First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases Shares of 24,351 The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 24,351 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,540,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the third quarter valued at $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. First Financial Corp IN purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Highlander Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 125.3% in the fourth quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on HSY shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $213.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Hershey from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Edward Jones reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $223.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total transaction of $89,938.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total value of $278,745.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 38,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,196,824.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total value of $89,938.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,453 shares of company stock worth $665,534 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hershey Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of HSY stock traded down $0.99 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $186.16. The company had a trading volume of 1,186,506 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,496,720. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.97. The Hershey Company has a twelve month low of $178.82 and a twelve month high of $276.88. The company has a market capitalization of $37.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.34. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $191.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $190.62.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. Hershey had a return on equity of 51.79% and a net margin of 16.67%. The business had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This is a positive change from Hershey's previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Hershey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.55%.

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.