ICW Investment Advisors LLC Buys 269 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

ICW Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,208 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,903,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Hershey Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of Hershey stock traded down $0.05 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $193.87. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 778,453 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,956,605. 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 company has a market cap of $39.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.34. The Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $178.82 and a 1-year high of $276.71. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $191.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $190.66.

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

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 40,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,961,121.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of Hershey 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey 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 in the company, valued at $7,961,121.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,453 shares of company stock worth $665,534. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HSY has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Hershey from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Edward Jones reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $191.00 to $183.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $212.78.

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.