West Family Investments Inc. Reduces Stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

West Family Investments Inc. decreased its stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,423 shares of the company’s stock after selling 284 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $638,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Hershey by 67.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,202 shares of the company’s stock worth $411,000 after purchasing an additional 886 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hershey during the 4th quarter worth about $626,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its holdings in Hershey by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $956,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. increased its stake in Hershey by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 5,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Hershey by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 23,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,373,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In related 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at $369,681.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total value of $89,938.62. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total value of $278,745.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Over 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on HSY. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Barclays increased their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Edward Jones restated a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, April 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hershey currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $212.78.

Hershey Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Hershey stock traded up $0.95 on Thursday, reaching $194.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 663,807 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,954,143. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The Hershey Company has a 52 week low of $178.82 and a 52 week high of $276.71. The company has a market capitalization of $39.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.33. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $191.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $190.68.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.02 earnings per share. Hershey’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This is an increase from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. Hershey’s payout ratio 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.