Venture Visionary Partners LLC Buys 762 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Venture Visionary Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 1.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 46,429 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 762 shares during the quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $8,905,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,341,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,372,965,000 after purchasing an additional 2,158,912 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,487,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,327,000 after purchasing an additional 90,329 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 787,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,743,000 after purchasing an additional 25,780 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 23.2% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 783,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,962,000 after purchasing an additional 147,215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 297.9% during the 2nd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 717,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,959,000 after purchasing an additional 537,419 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HSY. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Hershey in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They set a “sell” rating and a $185.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Hershey from $204.00 to $202.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Hershey from $209.00 to $205.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Hershey from $191.00 to $199.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $230.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $195.00.

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 Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.83, for a total transaction of $286,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 34,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,531,729.24. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.83, for a total transaction of $286,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 34,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,531,729.24. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 owns 3,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $644,912.46. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of HSY stock traded down $1.01 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $184.67. The company had a trading volume of 955,134 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,680,516. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $194.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $193.11. The Hershey Company has a one year low of $178.82 and a one year high of $211.92. The firm has a market cap of $37.35 billion, a PE ratio of 18.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.17). Hershey had a return on equity of 45.36% and a net margin of 16.76%. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.01 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.97%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.31%.

About Hershey

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.