Golden State Wealth Management LLC Acquires New Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $128,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 30,461.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 573,643 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,100,130,000 after purchasing an additional 571,766 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 66.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 972,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,571,000 after buying an additional 389,404 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 5.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,029,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,348,127,000 after buying an additional 386,670 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Hershey by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 586,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,491,000 after acquiring an additional 139,831 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Hershey by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,387,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $841,476,000 after acquiring an additional 109,336 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 2,682 shares in the company, valued at approximately $396,936. This trade represents a 9.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE HSY opened at $154.98 on Monday. The Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $140.13 and a 1 year high of $211.92. The stock has a market cap of $31.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $164.38 and a 200 day moving average of $180.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.29. Hershey had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 44.77%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 6.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be paid a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.54%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HSY. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Hershey in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “sell” rating and a $165.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup raised shares of Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $159.00 to $154.00 in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $150.00 to $134.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $184.00 to $148.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Hershey from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hershey currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $166.35.

Hershey Company 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.