Fidelis Capital Partners LLC Acquires 651 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 50.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,951 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 651 shares during the quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $364,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HSY. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hershey in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in Hershey during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Hershey during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. First Financial Corp IN bought a new stake in Hershey during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its holdings in Hershey by 121.3% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $296,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,961,121.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,453 shares of company stock valued at $670,244 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $185.02 on Friday. The Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $178.82 and a 52-week high of $276.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a fifty day moving average of $192.31 and a 200-day moving average of $190.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.97.

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

Hershey Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. This is a boost from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HSY has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $191.00 to $183.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Hershey from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $223.33.

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.