Pacific Point Advisors LLC Purchases New Shares in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Pacific Point Advisors LLC bought a new stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 8,701 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,474,000. Hershey accounts for about 0.9% of Pacific Point Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Montag & Caldwell LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HSY has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bernstein Bank lowered their target price on shares of Hershey from $177.00 to $146.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $125.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Hershey from $147.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Hershey from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Hershey from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $161.40.

Hershey Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $153.97 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $165.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $167.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The Hershey Company has a 12-month low of $140.13 and a 12-month high of $208.03. The firm has a market cap of $31.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.13, a PEG ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.32.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.81 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 44.77% and a net margin of 19.83%. The company’s revenue was down 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.07 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.57%.

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.