GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. Acquires Shares of 25,560 The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. acquired a new stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 25,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,902,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position 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 during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in Hershey by 55.0% in the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Hershey in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the first quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the first quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HSY. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $230.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Hershey in a report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $185.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Hershey from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $184.00 to $163.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Hershey from $188.00 to $180.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Hershey from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $191.11.

Hershey Stock Down 0.2 %

HSY traded down $0.28 on Tuesday, hitting $182.57. 280,764 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,664,849. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $192.22 and its 200-day moving average is $192.67. The company has a market cap of $36.92 billion, a PE ratio of 18.12, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.37. The Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $178.82 and a 12 month high of $211.92.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 16.76% and a return on equity of 45.36%. Hershey’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.01 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 9.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 54.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,238 shares in the company, valued at $644,912.46. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.