Schulhoff & Co. Inc. Purchases 115 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Schulhoff & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,296 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the quarter. Schulhoff & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $728,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hershey during the third quarter worth $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust increased its position in Hershey by 248.0% during the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Hershey in the third quarter valued at about $46,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its stake in Hershey by 61.7% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City State Bank boosted its holdings in Hershey by 210.0% in the fourth quarter. City State Bank now owns 310 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $172.33 on Friday. The Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $140.13 and a fifty-two week high of $211.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $34.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.37. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $160.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $177.50.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.29. Hershey had a return on equity of 44.77% and a net margin of 19.83%. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 50.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.00, for a total transaction of $41,144.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $396,936. The trade was a 9.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $170.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Hershey from $150.00 to $134.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup upgraded shares of Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $159.00 to $154.00 in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group cut their target price on Hershey from $189.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hershey presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.15.

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.