Founders Financial Securities LLC Purchases Shares of 2,400 The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Founders Financial Securities LLC purchased a new stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $467,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Hershey during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. First Financial Corp IN acquired a new position in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Highlander Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 125.3% during the 4th quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HSY has been the topic of several recent research reports. Edward Jones restated a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, April 19th. Argus reduced their target price on shares of Hershey from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $213.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered shares of Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $209.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.54, for a total transaction of $306,810.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,614,615.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 4,500 shares of company stock valued at $859,950 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HSY traded up $0.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $183.83. 5,542,376 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,450,476. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $178.82 and a 12 month high of $251.73. The company has a 50 day moving average of $194.24 and a 200-day moving average of $192.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.37.

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

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. Hershey’s payout ratio is 54.31%.

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.