Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC Purchases New Shares in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 4,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $848,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Hershey by 1.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,911,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,983,427,000 after acquiring an additional 222,960 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 9.1% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,489,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $886,746,000 after purchasing an additional 290,920 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 57.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,648,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $613,352,000 after purchasing an additional 964,019 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 143.7% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,465,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,039,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 2.0% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,779,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,052,000 after purchasing an additional 35,393 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were 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 approximately $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Charles R. Raup sold 2,065 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.85, for a total value of $396,170.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,770 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,833,624.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total transaction of $89,938.62. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $369,681.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,518 shares of company stock worth $1,066,414. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hershey Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $183.32 on Wednesday. The Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $178.82 and a 1 year high of $276.88. The firm has a market cap of $37.39 billion, a PE ratio of 20.26, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $193.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $191.17.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its 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 net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 51.79%. The business had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.02 earnings per share. Hershey’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. 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. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 60.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on HSY shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Hershey from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $223.81.

About Hershey

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.