Schnieders Capital Management LLC Takes Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Schnieders Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Hershey during the fourth quarter worth about $345,000. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA boosted its position in Hershey by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 11,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,303,000 after acquiring an additional 1,211 shares during the period. RWA Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Hershey by 419.0% during the 4th quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,427,000 after acquiring an additional 6,180 shares during the period. Mengis Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Hershey by 66.7% during the 4th quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 23,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,332,000 after acquiring an additional 9,300 shares during the period. Finally, Significant Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Hershey during the 4th quarter worth about $1,659,000. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HSY has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Edward Jones reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $213.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $223.33.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of Hershey stock traded up $1.06 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $188.14. 1,621,836 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,963,396. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.97. The Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $178.82 and a 1-year high of $276.88. The company has a market cap of $38.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.75, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $192.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $190.75.

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. The firm had revenue of $2.66 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 60.55%.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $296,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,961,121.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $296,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 40,228 shares in the company, valued at $7,961,121.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.