Bfsg LLC Buys Shares of 550 The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Bfsg LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $103,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in Hershey in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Hershey in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. First Financial Corp IN bought a new position in Hershey in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Highlander Capital Management LLC increased its position in Hershey by 125.3% in the 4th quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total value of $89,938.62. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $369,681.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total value of $89,938.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total value of $278,745.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 38,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,196,824.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,453 shares of company stock valued at $665,534. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hershey Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of HSY traded down $1.71 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $186.43. 213,301 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,941,281. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $178.82 and a 1-year high of $276.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.02 billion, a PE ratio of 20.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.34. The business has a fifty day moving average of $191.95 and a 200-day moving average of $190.73.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. Hershey had a return on equity of 51.79% and a net margin of 16.67%. The business had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $1.37 dividend. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on HSY. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. BNP Paribas cut Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $223.33.

Hershey Profile

The Hershey Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of confectionery products and pantry items in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: North America Confectionery, North America Salty Snacks, and International. It offers chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery products; gum and mint refreshment products, including mints, chewing gums, and bubble gums; protein bars; pantry items, such as baking ingredients, toppings, beverages, and sundae syrups; and snack items comprising spreads, bars, snack bites, mixes, popcorn, and pretzels.