Edge Financial Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Edge Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $437,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 320,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,951,000 after buying an additional 29,246 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its position in Hershey by 179.4% in the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 6,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,353,000 after purchasing an additional 4,468 shares in the last quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services bought a new position in Hershey during the first quarter worth about $5,383,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Hershey by 119.8% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 91,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,633,000 after purchasing an additional 50,014 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 239.2% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 22,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,286,000 after purchasing an additional 15,538 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America decreased their price target on Hershey from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $230.00 to $205.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $204.00 to $202.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Hershey from $191.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hershey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $191.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.17, for a total value of $107,153.46. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $644,912.46. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hershey Trading Down 0.5 %

Hershey stock traded down $0.87 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $179.15. 157,272 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,661,892. The Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $178.82 and a fifty-two week high of $211.92. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $191.86 and its 200-day moving average is $192.62. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $36.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.76, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.37.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.27 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 45.36% and a net margin of 16.76%. Hershey’s revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.01 EPS. On average, analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 9.45 earnings per share for the current year.

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.