Appleton Partners Inc. MA Has $5.45 Million Holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA lowered its stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 5.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,019 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,562 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Hershey were worth $5,450,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 754 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its position 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 buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 1.5% in 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 during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 1.0% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Mount Lucas Management LP lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 0.6% in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total value of $278,745.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,196,824.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 4,500 shares of company stock valued at $882,405 in the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hershey Price Performance

NYSE HSY traded down $0.81 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $182.24. 368,713 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,859,167. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $194.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $192.50. The company has a market cap of $36.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 0.37. The Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $178.82 and a 1-year high of $262.30.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.74 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $3.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 50.15% and a net margin of 18.13%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.96 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 54.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on HSY shares. Argus dropped their price objective on Hershey from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $213.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, March 15th. BNP Paribas lowered Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $210.56.

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.