Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Has $1.09 Million Stock Holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,839 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,089,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Hershey by 143.7% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,465,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $496,039,000 after buying an additional 1,453,819 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Hershey by 18,495.8% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 295,673 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,125,000 after purchasing an additional 294,083 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Hershey by 1.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,911,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,983,427,000 after purchasing an additional 222,960 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in shares of Hershey in the 3rd quarter worth $33,672,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Hershey by 270.8% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 197,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,478,000 after purchasing an additional 144,103 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on HSY. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $213.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $212.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $296,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,961,121.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Performance

NYSE HSY opened at $197.92 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $40.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company’s 50 day moving average is $191.85 and its 200-day moving average is $190.72. The Hershey Company has a 12-month low of $178.82 and a 12-month high of $275.89.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.72 by $0.35. Hershey had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 51.79%. The business had revenue of $3.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.96 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.55%.

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.