J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Buys 485 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 21.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,712 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Alliance grew its stake in Hershey by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $212,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Reliant Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Hershey in the 4th quarter worth about $4,173,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 94.7% in the 4th quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 17,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,237,000 after purchasing an additional 8,500 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 91.4% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 91,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,111,000 after purchasing an additional 43,836 shares during the period. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,603,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $191.00 to $183.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report 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 target for the company in a research report on Monday, January 29th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Edward Jones reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, April 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $223.33.

Hershey Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE HSY opened at $187.10 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $192.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $190.75. The stock has a market cap of $38.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.34. The Hershey Company has a 12-month low of $178.82 and a 12-month 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.

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

Hershey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.55%.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 40,228 shares in the company, valued at $7,961,121.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at $369,681.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $296,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 40,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,961,121.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.