180 Shares in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Acquired by Crewe Advisors LLC

Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the first quarter worth $29,000. Highlander Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Hershey by 125.3% in the fourth quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the first quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Argus dropped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Hershey from $210.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Hershey from $204.00 to $188.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $179.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $204.89.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.83, for a total value of $286,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 34,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,531,729.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 4,500 shares of company stock valued at $867,450 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hershey Stock Performance

Hershey stock traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $192.67. 1,866,123 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,852,866. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $190.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $192.51. The Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $178.82 and a fifty-two week high of $243.01. The stock has a market cap of $38.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.10, a P/E/G ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

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

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.