1,304 Shares in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Acquired by Chapin Davis Inc.

Chapin Davis Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $240,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wealth Alliance raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. AJOVista LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter worth approximately $153,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 1,263.3% during the fourth quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 15,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,816,000 after purchasing an additional 13,997 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new position in Hershey during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,332,000. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its stake in Hershey by 179.4% in the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 6,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,353,000 after buying an additional 4,468 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HSY traded down $1.79 during trading on Friday, reaching $193.49. 2,330,430 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,839,756. The Hershey Company has a 12-month low of $178.82 and a 12-month high of $221.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $39.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.18, a PEG ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 0.36. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $190.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $193.25.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 16.76% and a return on equity of 45.36%. The company’s revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.01 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 54.31%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.17, for a total transaction of $107,153.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $644,912.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.17, for a total value of $107,153.46. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,238 shares in the company, valued at $644,912.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.83, for a total transaction of $286,245.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 34,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,531,729.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,038 shares of company stock worth $974,603 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HSY. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Hershey from $237.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $210.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Hershey from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Hershey from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Hershey from $209.00 to $205.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $203.47.

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.