The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Stock Holdings Decreased by WESPAC Advisors LLC

WESPAC Advisors LLC reduced its position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 28.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,248 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,686 shares during the quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $781,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the second quarter worth approximately $161,000. Arrow Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Hershey by 48.2% in the second quarter. Arrow Financial Corp now owns 3,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $729,000 after acquiring an additional 1,289 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the second quarter worth approximately $562,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Hershey by 19.9% in the second quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Hershey by 38.9% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 583,432 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,252,000 after acquiring an additional 163,485 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In related news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.17, for a total transaction of $107,153.46. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $644,912.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.17, for a total transaction of $107,153.46. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $644,912.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.93, for a total transaction of $274,395.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 35,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,535,723.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,538 shares of company stock worth $667,793 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Hershey from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Argus downgraded shares of Hershey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. 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. Barclays reduced their price objective 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $183.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $202.79.

Hershey Price Performance

HSY traded up $1.36 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $193.06. The company had a trading volume of 1,325,864 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,794,822. The Hershey Company has a twelve month low of $178.82 and a twelve month high of $219.92. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $192.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $193.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $39.04 billion, a PE ratio of 19.13, a P/E/G ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 0.36.

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

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. Hershey’s dividend 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.