GAMMA Investing LLC Invests $345,000 in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $345,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in shares of Hershey in the third quarter worth $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. First Financial Corp IN acquired a new position in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Highlander Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Hershey by 125.3% in the fourth quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Price Performance

HSY opened at $188.14 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $38.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.79, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.34. The Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $178.82 and a 1 year high of $276.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $191.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $190.73.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HSY has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $213.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, March 15th. BNP Paribas cut Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $223.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total transaction of $89,938.62. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at $369,681.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total value of $89,938.62. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at $369,681.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total value of $278,745.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 38,728 shares in the company, valued at $7,196,824.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,453 shares of company stock worth $665,534 over the last three months. 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.