Pittenger & Anderson Inc. Grows Holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. grew its position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 1,263.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,105 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,997 shares during the quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $2,816,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HSY. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. bought a new position in Hershey in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hershey during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. First Financial Corp IN purchased a new position in Hershey in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Highlander Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Hershey by 125.3% in the fourth quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,196,824.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, 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 value of $278,745.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 38,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,196,824.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the business’s 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,453 shares of company stock worth $665,534 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Edward Jones restated a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $213.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $223.33.

Hershey Trading Down 0.5 %

HSY stock traded down $0.99 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $187.15. 1,316,364 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,955,409. The Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $178.82 and a 1-year high of $276.88. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $191.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $190.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.17 billion, a PE ratio of 20.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 51.79%. Hershey’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a $1.37 dividend. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 60.55%.

Hershey 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.