821 Shares in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Bought by AJOVista LLC

AJOVista LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $153,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,911,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,983,427,000 after buying an additional 222,960 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Hershey by 143.7% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,465,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $496,039,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453,819 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Hershey by 2.0% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,779,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,052,000 after purchasing an additional 35,393 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Hershey by 0.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,170,830 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,260,000 after purchasing an additional 8,344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 997,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,085,000 after purchasing an additional 21,229 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hershey Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:HSY traded up $2.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $197.92. The company had a trading volume of 3,396,043 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,711,441. 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 50-day moving average price of $191.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $190.72. The company has a market capitalization of $40.37 billion, a PE ratio of 21.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.33. The Hershey Company has a 52 week low of $178.82 and a 52 week high of $275.89.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.74 by $0.33. Hershey had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 51.79%. The firm had revenue of $3.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.96 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on HSY shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $191.00 to $183.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Edward Jones reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hershey currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $212.78.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total transaction of $278,745.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 38,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,196,824.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.