PFG Investments LLC Takes $387,000 Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

PFG Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 1,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $387,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in HSY. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its holdings in Hershey by 3.6% during the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 9,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,838,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 14,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,855,000 after acquiring an additional 2,626 shares during the period. Busey Trust CO raised its holdings in Hershey by 39.7% during the third quarter. Busey Trust CO now owns 4,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $947,000 after purchasing an additional 1,345 shares during the last quarter. Suncoast Equity Management grew its holdings in Hershey by 12.8% in the third quarter. Suncoast Equity Management now owns 11,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,317,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toews Corp ADV acquired a new position in shares of Hershey during the 3rd quarter worth $760,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on HSY shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $213.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Barclays raised their price target on Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Finally, BNP Paribas cut shares of Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hershey currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $212.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 38,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,196,824.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of Hershey 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 owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 38,728 shares in the company, valued at $7,196,824.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,453 shares of company stock worth $665,534 in the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hershey Stock Performance

HSY traded up $1.45 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $193.92. 3,132,628 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,972,461. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $191.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $190.66. 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 stock has a market cap of $39.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.34. The Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $178.82 and a 12 month high of $276.88.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $2.72 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.02 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $1.37 dividend. This is a boost from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.55%.

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.