Advisors Preferred LLC Takes $430,000 Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $430,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 4,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $792,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in Hershey by 5.7% during the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Wealth Management lifted its stake in Hershey by 1.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 6,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,152,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $154.98 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $164.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.52. The company has a market cap of $31.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.22, a PEG ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $140.13 and a 1 year high of $211.92.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 50.28%.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In related news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.00, for a total value of $41,144.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HSY has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $184.00 to $148.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $166.35.

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.