Intact Investment Management Inc. Buys New Holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 16,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,039,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Alliance raised its holdings in Hershey by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Reliant Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,173,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Hershey by 91.4% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 91,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,111,000 after acquiring an additional 43,836 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its holdings in Hershey by 94.7% in the fourth quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 17,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,237,000 after acquiring an additional 8,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,603,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total transaction of $278,745.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 38,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,196,824.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $369,681.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total transaction of $278,745.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,196,824.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,453 shares of company stock valued at $665,534. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hershey Price Performance

NYSE HSY traded down $0.99 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $186.16. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,186,506 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,496,720. The stock has a market cap of $37.97 billion, a PE ratio of 20.57, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.34. The Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $178.82 and a fifty-two week high of $276.88. The company’s 50-day moving average is $191.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $190.62. 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 released 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. The company had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 51.79%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. Analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 2.94%. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 60.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $191.00 to $183.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $213.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, March 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut shares of 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. One 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hershey presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.