Fruth Investment Management reduced its stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 1.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 40,574 shares of the company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. Hershey Company (The) comprises about 2.0% of Fruth Investment Management’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Fruth Investment Management’s holdings in Hershey Company (The) were worth $4,356,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in HSY. Invictus RG acquired a new position in shares of Hershey Company (The) during the first quarter valued at $155,000. Independent Portfolio Consultants Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) by 139.5% in the second quarter. Independent Portfolio Consultants Inc. now owns 1,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,000 after buying an additional 886 shares during the last quarter. YorkBridge Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) by 43.6% in the first quarter. YorkBridge Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp increased its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) by 0.8% in the first quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 1,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $184,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) by 9.5% in the first quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.26% of the company’s stock.
Shares of Hershey Company (HSY) traded down 0.36% on Friday, reaching $106.07. The company had a trading volume of 815,677 shares. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.89 and a beta of 0.38. Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $94.03 and a 1-year high of $116.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $108.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.56.
Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.19. Hershey Company (The) had a return on equity of 119.66% and a net margin of 8.95%. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Hershey Company will post $4.81 earnings per share for the current year.
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 25th will be issued a $0.656 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 23rd. This is an increase from Hershey Company (The)’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.47%. Hershey Company (The)’s payout ratio is 78.66%.
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A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Credit Suisse Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 target price on shares of Hershey Company (The) in a research note on Friday. Deutsche Bank AG restated a “hold” rating and issued a $111.00 target price (down previously from $112.00) on shares of Hershey Company (The) in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $115.00 target price (up previously from $114.00) on shares of Hershey Company (The) in a research note on Thursday. Susquehanna Bancshares Inc set a $118.00 price target on Hershey Company (The) and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Hershey Company (The) from $111.00 to $108.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Hershey Company (The) has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.02.
In other Hershey Company (The) news, insider Michele Buck sold 2,507 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.00, for a total value of $270,756.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 169,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,295,632. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David L. Shedlarz sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.45, for a total value of $519,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,771,233.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 107,593 shares of company stock valued at $12,192,938 over the last quarter. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
About Hershey Company (The)
The Hershey Company is a producer of chocolate in North America. The Company’s principal product offerings include chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery products; gum and mint refreshment products; pantry items, such as baking ingredients and beverages, and snack items, such as spreads, meat snacks, bars and snack bites and mixes.
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