Mengis Capital Management Inc. Purchases 9,300 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Mengis Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 66.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,235 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,300 shares during the period. Mengis Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $4,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. bought a new position in Hershey in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in Hershey in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. First Financial Corp IN bought a new position in Hershey during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Highlander Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Hershey by 125.3% during the fourth quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Up 0.5 %

Hershey stock traded up $0.86 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $185.88. The stock had a trading volume of 795,130 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,965,300. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $192.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $190.87. The Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $178.82 and a 1-year high of $276.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.34. 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 earnings results 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 return on equity of 51.79% and a net margin of 16.67%. The business had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. Hershey’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business 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. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. Hershey’s payout ratio is 60.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $296,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 40,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,961,121.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $296,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 40,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,961,121.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $369,681.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,453 shares of company stock valued at $670,244 in the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas cut Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $213.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Edward Jones restated a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hershey presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $223.33.

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.