Wealth Alliance Acquires 99 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Wealth Alliance increased its holdings in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 9.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,137 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Hershey were worth $212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HSY. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Hershey by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,911,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,983,427,000 after acquiring an additional 222,960 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Hershey by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,489,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $886,746,000 after acquiring an additional 290,920 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Hershey by 57.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,648,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $613,352,000 after acquiring an additional 964,019 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Hershey by 143.7% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,465,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $496,039,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Hershey by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,779,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,052,000 after acquiring an additional 35,393 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HSY has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Edward Jones restated a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $213.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $223.33.

Hershey Stock Up 0.1 %

HSY stock opened at $185.02 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $37.73 billion, a PE ratio of 20.44, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.34. The Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $178.82 and a 1-year high of $276.88. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $192.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $190.97.

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

Hershey Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $296,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 40,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,961,121.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,453 shares of company stock valued at $670,244 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hershey Company 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.