1,633 Shares in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Purchased by Crestwood Advisors Group LLC

Crestwood Advisors Group LLC acquired a new stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $304,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in shares of Hershey in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 121.3% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO acquired a new stake in Hershey during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $296,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,228 shares in the company, valued at $7,961,121.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total transaction of $89,938.62. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $296,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 40,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,961,121.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,518 shares of company stock worth $1,066,414 in the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hershey Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE HSY opened at $185.80 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $193.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $191.43. 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 twelve month low of $178.82 and a twelve month high of $276.88. The stock has a market cap of $37.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.53, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.34.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. Hershey’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on HSY shares. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $191.00 to $183.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. BNP Paribas lowered Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hershey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $224.81.

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.