Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Invests $136,000 in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 742 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $136,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 20.6% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 316 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake in Hershey by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,661 shares of the company’s stock worth $683,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its stake in Hershey by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 5,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,089,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP boosted its stake in Hershey by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP now owns 9,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,793,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Hershey by 13.3% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 486 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on HSY shares. Edward Jones reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $237.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Hershey from $183.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Hershey from $209.00 to $205.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Hershey from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $204.50.

Hershey Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of HSY traded up $3.36 on Tuesday, hitting $199.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,388,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,862,227. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $189.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $192.77. The Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $178.82 and a fifty-two week high of $230.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.80, a P/E/G ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 0.36.

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

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.31%.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.93, for a total value of $274,395.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 35,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,535,723.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 4,500 shares of company stock worth $867,450. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.