Valley Wealth Managers Inc. Buys 735 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Valley Wealth Managers Inc. raised its holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 64.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,882 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 735 shares during the period. Valley Wealth Managers Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $366,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC grew its position in Hershey by 46.0% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 6,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,357,000 after acquiring an additional 2,197 shares during the last quarter. Bancreek Capital Management LP grew its position in Hershey by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Bancreek Capital Management LP now owns 31,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,203,000 after acquiring an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 49.7% in the 1st quarter. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 5,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $979,000 after buying an additional 1,671 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 1st quarter worth $1,848,000. Finally, Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 1,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.54, for a total transaction of $306,810.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,614,615.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,500 shares of company stock worth $859,950. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on HSY shares. Citigroup lowered their target price on Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Hershey from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 21st. Argus decreased their price objective on Hershey from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $179.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Hershey from $210.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $209.67.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HSY traded up $0.48 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $186.16. The stock had a trading volume of 1,327,478 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,863,615. The company has a market capitalization of $37.65 billion, a PE ratio of 18.48, a P/E/G ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 0.36. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $193.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $192.25. The Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $178.82 and a 1 year high of $248.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 50.15% and a net margin of 18.13%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.96 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 9.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. Hershey’s payout ratio is 54.31%.

Hershey 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.