Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Acquires 1,416 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 12.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,622 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,416 shares during the quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $2,353,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wealth Alliance grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $212,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its stake in Hershey by 1,263.3% during the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 15,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,816,000 after buying an additional 13,997 shares during the last quarter. Reliant Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at $4,173,000. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 78,757.1% in the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 5,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,029,000 after acquiring an additional 5,513 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted 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 during the period. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $213.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Hershey from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $212.78.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total value 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 $7,196,824.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 38,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,196,824.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $369,681.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,453 shares of company stock valued at $665,534. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE HSY opened at $193.70 on Thursday. The Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $178.82 and a 1-year high of $276.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The business’s 50 day moving average is $191.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $190.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.40, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.33.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.55%.

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.