Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Buys 267 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp grew its position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,174 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 267 shares during the quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in Hershey were worth $3,202,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HSY. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new position in Hershey in the third quarter worth $25,000. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Hershey during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. First Financial Corp IN purchased a new stake in Hershey during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Highlander Capital Management LLC raised its position in Hershey by 125.3% in the fourth quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $296,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 40,228 shares in the company, valued at $7,961,121.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $296,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,961,121.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total value of $89,938.62. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $369,681.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of HSY traded up $1.06 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $188.14. The stock had a trading volume of 1,621,744 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,963,396. The Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $178.82 and a 1 year high of $276.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $192.01 and its 200 day moving average is $190.75. The firm has a market cap of $38.37 billion, a PE ratio of 20.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.34.

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

Hershey Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. This is a positive change 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 presently 60.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. BNP Paribas lowered Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Edward Jones reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target 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 dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $191.00 to $183.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $223.33.

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.