GoalVest Advisory LLC Buys Shares of 300 The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

GoalVest Advisory LLC bought a new stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HSY. TrueMark Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hershey during the first quarter worth about $2,217,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Hershey by 24.8% during the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 824 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,000 after buying an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. IAM Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hershey during the first quarter worth about $201,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Hershey by 13.3% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 486 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Hershey by 57.1% during the first quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 275 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HSY has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $179.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Edward Jones restated a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. BNP Paribas cut Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Argus reduced their price objective on Hershey from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $209.67.

Hershey Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of HSY stock opened at $183.61 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $194.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $192.22. The Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $178.82 and a 1-year high of $258.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.13 billion, a PE ratio of 18.20, a P/E/G ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.74 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.11 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 50.15% and a net margin of 18.13%. Hershey’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.96 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were given a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.31%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.54, for a total transaction of $306,810.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at $7,614,615.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold 4,500 shares of company stock worth $859,950 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Hershey

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.