Heartland Bank & Trust Co Buys New Shares in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY)

Heartland Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,138 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $366,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HSY. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC increased its position in Hershey by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 46,708 shares of the company's stock worth $7,910,000 after buying an additional 3,578 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 464.9% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 435 shares of the company's stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,240 shares of the company's stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 2,234 shares of the company's stock worth $378,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 5,949 shares of the company's stock worth $1,007,000 after acquiring an additional 516 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HSY. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Hershey from $178.00 to $175.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Hershey from $162.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Hershey from $125.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Hershey from $147.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Hershey from $183.00 to $177.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $158.84.

Hershey Stock Up 1.2%

NYSE HSY opened at $171.70 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $164.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $165.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $140.13 and a fifty-two week high of $208.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.79 billion, a PE ratio of 21.17, a PEG ratio of 6.26 and a beta of 0.29.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.15. Hershey had a return on equity of 38.70% and a net margin of 15.32%. The firm had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.07 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. Hershey's payout ratio is presently 67.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michele Buck sold 31,210 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.80, for a total transaction of $5,018,568.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 193,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,134,739.20. This represents a 13.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 974 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.11, for a total transaction of $153,025.14. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,994 shares of the company's stock, 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. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Hershey Company 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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