Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD Invests $144,000 in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $144,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 730,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,142,000 after purchasing an additional 64,238 shares in the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Hershey by 62.4% in the fourth quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 2,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 992 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $349,448,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 101.6% during the fourth quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 68,512 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,773,000 after acquiring an additional 34,526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Motco raised its position in shares of Hershey by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Motco now owns 35,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,548 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’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 value of $286,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 34,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,531,729.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.83, for a total transaction of $286,245.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 34,228 shares in the company, valued at $6,531,729.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.17, for a total value 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 $644,912.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,538 shares of company stock valued at $667,793 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HSY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Citigroup downgraded shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of Hershey from $237.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Hershey in a report on Monday, August 12th. They set a “sell” rating and a $185.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Hershey from $210.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $203.21.

Hershey Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:HSY opened at $200.83 on Monday. The Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $178.82 and a 12 month high of $213.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $195.11 and its 200 day moving average is $193.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.61 billion, a PE ratio of 19.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 0.37.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 16.76% and a return on equity of 45.36%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.01 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. Hershey’s payout ratio is 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.