Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. Purchases 34,876 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Key Points

• Beese Fulmer Investment Management boosted its Hershey position by 89.3% in the fourth quarter, buying 34,876 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 73,928 shares worth about $13.45 million.
• Hershey reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $2.35 versus the $2.04 estimate and revenue of $3.10 billion, up 10.7% from a year earlier.
• Analysts remain cautious overall: Hershey has a Hold consensus rating, though TD Cowen upgraded the stock to Buy while other firms trimmed price targets; the stock also carries a 3.1% dividend yield.

Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) by 89.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 73,928 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 34,876 shares during the quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Hershey were worth $13,453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HSY. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Hershey by 240.0% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,262,671 shares of the company's stock worth $236,183,000 after purchasing an additional 891,287 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Hershey by 121.2% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,104,299 shares of the company's stock worth $206,559,000 after purchasing an additional 605,048 shares during the period. Candlestick Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Hershey during the third quarter worth about $64,469,000. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in Hershey during the third quarter worth about $44,464,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Hershey by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,067,235 shares of the company's stock worth $3,469,855,000 after purchasing an additional 191,671 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HSY has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen raised shares of Hershey from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $185.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $225.00 to $220.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Hershey in a report on Monday, April 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $218.33.

Hershey Stock Performance

Hershey stock opened at $186.84 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $202.63 and a 200-day moving average of $196.91. Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $150.04 and a 1 year high of $239.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $37.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.07.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.31. Hershey had a return on equity of 28.98% and a net margin of 9.12%.The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a $1.452 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Hershey's dividend payout ratio is currently 108.19%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.10, for a total value of $291,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 57,695 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,198,599.50. This represents a 2.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Rohit Grover sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total transaction of $791,245.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 34,568 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,814,787.76. This represents a 9.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 10,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,189,090 over the last quarter. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hershey Profile

The Hershey Company NYSE: HSY is a leading North American chocolatier and snack manufacturer headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The company develops, produces and markets a wide range of confectionery and snack products for retail, foodservice and international customers. Hershey's business spans manufacturing, branded product marketing, packaging and distribution across grocery, convenience, mass merchant and e-commerce channels.

Hershey's product portfolio centers on chocolate and sugar confectionery, including core brands such as Hershey's, Reese's, Hershey's Kisses and Twizzlers, alongside non-chocolate snacks and confectionery brands.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.