The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Shares Bought by Bahl & Gaynor Inc.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 9.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 130,757 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,181 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $24,037,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in Hershey by 218.2% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in Hershey in the first quarter valued at $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HSY has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Hershey in a report on Monday, August 12th. They set a “sell” rating and a $185.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on Hershey from $237.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup lowered Hershey from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $195.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Hershey from $191.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Hershey from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $203.21.

Hershey Stock Performance

Hershey stock opened at $202.83 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $178.82 and a 12 month high of $213.85. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $194.18 and its 200-day moving average is $193.49. The company has a market cap of $41.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 0.37.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 45.36% and a net margin of 16.76%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.01 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.93, for a total transaction of $274,395.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 35,728 shares in the company, valued at $6,535,723.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.17, for a total value of $107,153.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $644,912.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.93, for a total value of $274,395.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 35,728 shares in the company, valued at $6,535,723.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,538 shares of company stock valued at $667,793 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.