Schnieders Capital Management LLC Invests $244,000 in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Schnieders Capital Management LLC bought a new position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at $345,000. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA boosted its holdings in Hershey by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 11,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,303,000 after acquiring an additional 1,211 shares in the last quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Hershey by 419.0% in the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,427,000 after acquiring an additional 6,180 shares in the last quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Hershey by 66.7% in the fourth quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 23,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,332,000 after acquiring an additional 9,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Significant Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at $1,659,000. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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 value of $89,938.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hershey Price Performance

NYSE HSY traded up $1.06 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $188.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,621,836 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,963,396. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $192.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $190.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $178.82 and a 1 year high of $276.88. The company has a market capitalization of $38.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.75, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.34.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.72 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 51.79% and a net margin of 16.67%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on HSY. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $191.00 to $183.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. BNP Paribas lowered Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Edward Jones reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, April 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hershey currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $223.33.

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.