Semanteon Capital Management LP Takes $651,000 Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Semanteon Capital Management LP bought a new stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $651,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in Hershey during the third quarter worth about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Hershey during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. First Financial Corp IN bought a new stake in Hershey during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Highlander Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Hershey during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HSY has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 15th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $213.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, March 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Hershey presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $223.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total transaction of $89,938.62. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total transaction of $89,938.62. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total value of $278,745.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 38,728 shares in the company, valued at $7,196,824.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 3,453 shares of company stock worth $665,534. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:HSY traded down $0.92 on Friday, reaching $186.23. 1,186,501 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,945,917. The Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $178.82 and a 1-year high of $276.88. The company’s 50 day moving average is $191.84 and its 200-day moving average is $190.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.34.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.72 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. Hershey’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This is a boost from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.