Stokes Family Office LLC Buys 156 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Stokes Family Office LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 12.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,397 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Stokes Family Office LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Hershey by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,182,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,830,683,000 after acquiring an additional 271,636 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at $349,448,000. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Hershey by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. now owns 781,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,715,000 after acquiring an additional 112,304 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Hershey by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 777,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,006,000 after acquiring an additional 19,018 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in Hershey by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 748,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $139,503,000 after acquiring an additional 89,586 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Price Performance

NYSE:HSY traded up $2.17 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $188.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,146,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,862,035. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $193.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $192.25. The company has a market capitalization of $38.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.73, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The Hershey Company has a twelve month low of $178.82 and a twelve month high of $248.93.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 50.15% and a net margin of 18.13%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.96 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 9.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were given a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HSY. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $213.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Edward Jones reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, April 19th. BNP Paribas lowered Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Hershey from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Hershey from $210.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $209.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.54, for a total transaction of $306,810.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at $7,614,615.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders sold 4,500 shares of company stock worth $859,950. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by 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.