Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC Buys New Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Brown Miller Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,496 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $427,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Hershey by 10.3% during the first quarter. Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,010 shares of the company's stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Crane Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Hershey during the 1st quarter worth $261,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 12.3% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 696 shares of the company's stock worth $119,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 51.2% in the 1st quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 55,623 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,214,000 after purchasing an additional 18,838 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management purchased a new position in Hershey in the 1st quarter valued at $336,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HSY has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $183.00 to $177.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Hershey from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Hershey from $162.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Hershey from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $147.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hershey has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $158.84.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In related news, CEO Michele Buck sold 31,210 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.80, for a total transaction of $5,018,568.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 193,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,134,739.20. This trade represents a 13.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 974 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.11, for a total value of $153,025.14. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,994 shares in the company, valued at $470,387.34. This trade represents a 24.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hershey Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of HSY opened at $169.06 on Monday. The Hershey Company has a twelve month low of $140.13 and a twelve month high of $208.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $163.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $165.62.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.81 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 44.77% and a net margin of 19.83%. The firm's revenue was down 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.07 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. Hershey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.57%.

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.

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