Wealth Alliance Has $505,000 Stock Holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Wealth Alliance increased its holdings in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 163.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,747 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,705 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Hershey were worth $505,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Hershey by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $328,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in Hershey by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 296,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,218,000 after buying an additional 30,789 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in Hershey by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 8,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,549,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in Hershey by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 13,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,485,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares during the last quarter. Finally, InterOcean Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in Hershey by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. InterOcean Capital Group LLC now owns 16,398 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,057,000 after purchasing an additional 5,182 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on HSY shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Hershey from $209.00 to $205.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Hershey from $210.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Hershey from $191.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup lowered shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of Hershey from $237.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hershey currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $203.21.

Hershey Price Performance

HSY opened at $197.63 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company has a market capitalization of $39.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.59, a P/E/G ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 0.37. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $196.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $193.94. The Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $178.82 and a 1 year high of $212.85.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 45.36% and a net margin of 16.76%. Hershey’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.01 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.31%.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.17, for a total transaction of $107,153.46. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,238 shares in the company, valued at $644,912.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.17, for a total value of $107,153.46. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,238 shares in the company, valued at $644,912.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.83, for a total transaction of $286,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 34,228 shares in the company, valued at $6,531,729.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 3,538 shares of company stock worth $667,793. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.