Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires Shares of 9,100 The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 9,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,697,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. PFS Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Hershey by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. PFS Investments Inc. now owns 1,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Hershey by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Hershey by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 3,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $792,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA boosted its stake in Hershey by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 754 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Hershey by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC now owns 14,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,853,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on HSY shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $213.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $191.00 to $183.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $223.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.97, for a total value of $283,455.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,816 shares in the company, valued at $5,634,329.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.97, for a total transaction of $283,455.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 29,816 shares in the company, valued at $5,634,329.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,453 shares of company stock worth $670,244 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of HSY opened at $185.02 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $37.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.44, a PEG ratio of 2.80 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $192.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $190.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.72 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 51.79%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. This is an increase from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 60.55%.

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.