Triumph Capital Management Grows Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Triumph Capital Management raised its holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 57.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,124 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 774 shares during the period. Triumph Capital Management’s holdings in Hershey were worth $396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Alliance grew its position in Hershey by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $212,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its holdings in Hershey by 1,263.3% in the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 15,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,816,000 after buying an additional 13,997 shares during the period. Reliant Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hershey in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,173,000. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated lifted its holdings in Hershey by 78,757.1% in the 4th quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 5,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,029,000 after buying an additional 5,513 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in Hershey by 91.4% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 91,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,111,000 after buying an additional 43,836 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on HSY shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup lowered 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. Edward Jones restated a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $212.78.

Hershey Stock Down 0.1 %

HSY stock opened at $193.70 on Thursday. The Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $178.82 and a 1-year high of $276.71. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $191.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $190.68. 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 has a market capitalization of $39.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.33.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This is a boost from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 60.55%.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $296,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 40,228 shares in the company, valued at $7,961,121.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $296,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 40,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,961,121.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,453 shares of company stock worth $665,534. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hershey Company Profile

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.