Evexia Wealth LLC Sells 588 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Evexia Wealth LLC lessened its position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 7.2% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,591 shares of the company’s stock after selling 588 shares during the period. Evexia Wealth LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Hershey in the fourth quarter worth $1,939,000. Ethos Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Hershey by 59.8% in the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 3,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $671,000 after purchasing an additional 1,483 shares during the period. DJE Kapital AG acquired a new stake in Hershey in the fourth quarter worth $1,040,000. Beacon Financial Group acquired a new position in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter valued at about $367,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,635,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $785,003,000 after buying an additional 247,675 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 974 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.11, for a total value of $153,025.14. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,387.34. The trade was a 24.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Michele Buck sold 31,210 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.80, for a total transaction of $5,018,568.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 193,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,134,739.20. This represents a 13.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Down 0.6%

Hershey stock opened at $161.83 on Friday. The Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $140.13 and a fifty-two week high of $208.03. The stock has a market cap of $32.79 billion, a PE ratio of 14.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.29. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $163.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $165.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 44.77%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.07 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 67.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HSY. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $162.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $178.00 to $175.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $183.00 to $177.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $158.84.

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.