Lafayette Investments Inc. Buys 3,250 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Lafayette Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 55.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,077 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,250 shares during the period. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,692,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Hershey by 50.1% in the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $364,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its position in Hershey by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 30,288 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,647,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group boosted its position in Hershey by 26.7% in the fourth quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 2,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Hershey in the fourth quarter worth about $629,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in Hershey by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 15,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,839,000 after purchasing an additional 2,775 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley cut Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $191.00 to $183.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Hershey from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $223.33.

Hershey Trading Down 0.3 %

HSY traded down $0.58 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $184.28. 543,788 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,964,726. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $192.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $191.07. The Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $178.82 and a 52-week high of $276.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.58 billion, a PE ratio of 20.32, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.34.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. Hershey had a return on equity of 51.79% and a net margin of 16.67%. The business had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.97%. This is a boost from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.97, for a total value of $283,455.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,634,329.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.97, for a total value of $283,455.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,634,329.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total value of $89,938.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $369,681.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,453 shares of company stock worth $670,244. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.