5,299 Shares in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) Bought by Arkadios Wealth Advisors

Key Points

• Arkadios Wealth Advisors acquired 5,299 shares of Hershey Company for approximately $906,000 in the first quarter, indicating increased institutional interest in the stock.
• Hershey reported a 26% increase in revenue year-over-year with earnings of $1.21 per share, exceeding estimates by $0.23.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.37 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 2.9% and a payout ratio of 72.78%.

Arkadios Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,299 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $906,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Montag & Caldwell LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. bought a new stake in Hershey in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 129.5% during the first quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HSY. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Hershey from $173.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho increased their price objective on Hershey from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Hershey from $155.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Hershey from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Hershey from $171.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have given a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $169.68.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 974 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.11, for a total transaction of $153,025.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 2,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $470,387.34. The trade was a 24.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Rohit Grover sold 1,334 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $240,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,068 shares in the company, valued at $6,852,240. This represents a 3.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 118,311 shares of company stock worth $20,931,348. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Hershey Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of HSY traded down $1.45 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $188.96. The stock had a trading volume of 1,109,049 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,995,665. The stock's 50 day moving average is $171.28 and its 200 day moving average is $166.56. The firm has a market cap of $38.28 billion, a PE ratio of 25.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.59 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $140.13 and a 1 year high of $208.03.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 13.54% and a return on equity of 37.36%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.27 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Hershey's dividend payout ratio is presently 72.78%.

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.