Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 596 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 29.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,423 shares of the company’s stock after selling 596 shares during the quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA increased its holdings in Hershey by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $683,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Hershey by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 5,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,089,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mount Lucas Management LP raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP now owns 9,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,793,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.93, for a total value of $274,395.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 35,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,535,723.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,500 shares of company stock valued at $859,950. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HSY has been the topic of several analyst reports. Argus cut their price target on shares of Hershey from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. BNP Paribas lowered Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $179.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, June 21st. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Hershey from $210.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $213.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, March 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hershey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $209.67.

Hershey Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE HSY opened at $183.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $37.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 0.37. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $194.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $192.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $178.82 and a 52-week high of $251.73.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.33. Hershey had a return on equity of 50.15% and a net margin of 18.13%. The company had revenue of $3.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.96 EPS. Hershey’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

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

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.