Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Grows Stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 7,783.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,608 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,169 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $6,452,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Alliance increased its holdings in Hershey by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $212,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its position in Hershey by 1,263.3% in the fourth quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 15,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,816,000 after purchasing an additional 13,997 shares during the last quarter. Reliant Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,173,000. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated increased its position in shares of Hershey by 78,757.1% during the 4th quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 5,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 5,513 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 94.7% in the 4th quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 17,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,237,000 after purchasing an additional 8,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $7,196,824.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Barclays raised their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $191.00 to $183.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $212.78.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of HSY stock traded up $2.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $197.92. The stock had a trading volume of 3,396,043 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,711,441. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $191.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $190.72. The Hershey Company has a one year low of $178.82 and a one year high of $275.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.87, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.74 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 51.79% and a net margin of 16.67%. The company’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.96 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.55%.

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.