Venturi Wealth Management LLC Buys 358 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 464.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 435 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 358 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $74,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the third quarter worth $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 248.0% during the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 174 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the third quarter worth $46,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 61.7% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 262 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City State Bank grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 210.0% during the fourth quarter. City State Bank now owns 310 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HSY opened at $178.12 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $160.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $177.74. The Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $140.13 and a 1-year high of $211.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.34, a P/E/G ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.29. Hershey had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 44.77%. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on HSY. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $170.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $178.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $171.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $184.00 to $148.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.15.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.00, for a total transaction of $41,144.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.34% 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.