Cerity Partners LLC Has $8.74 Million Stock Holdings in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 21.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 51,110 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,053 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $8,742,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Montag & Caldwell LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Proffitt & Goodson Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michele Buck sold 31,210 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.80, for a total value of $5,018,568.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 193,624 shares in the company, valued at $31,134,739.20. The trade was a 13.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP James Turoff sold 1,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $227,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 25,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,431,175. The trade was a 4.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,107 shares of company stock worth $9,008,118 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hershey Price Performance

HSY stock opened at $164.90 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.08 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.59. Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $140.13 and a 52-week high of $208.03. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $165.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $164.63.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.81 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 38.70% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.07 EPS. Research analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 67.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HSY has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup cut their price objective on Hershey from $173.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Hershey from $147.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Hershey from $162.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Hershey from $178.00 to $175.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Hershey from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Hershey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $158.84.

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.