Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 2,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $376,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. PFS Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. PFS Investments Inc. now owns 1,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Cassia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 3.2% in the third quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Marshall Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.4% in the third quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 3,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $792,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 0.4% in the third quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC now owns 14,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,853,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.1% in the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 5,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,052,000 after buying an additional 55 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.97, for a total value of $283,455.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 29,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,634,329.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Charles R. Raup sold 2,065 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.85, for a total transaction of $396,170.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 14,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,833,624.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.97, for a total transaction of $283,455.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,634,329.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,518 shares of company stock valued at $1,066,414. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on HSY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $191.00 to $183.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Hershey from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday. Finally, DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, December 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $205.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hershey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $225.48.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $194.54 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $39.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.50, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $193.26 and its 200 day moving average is $192.80. The Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $178.82 and a 1 year high of $276.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.02 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 9.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The firm 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 2.82%. 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.