Sapient Capital LLC Buys New Shares in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $507,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Wealth Alliance lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its holdings in Hershey by 1,263.3% in the fourth quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 15,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,816,000 after buying an additional 13,997 shares in the last quarter. Reliant Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at $4,173,000. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated increased its holdings in Hershey by 78,757.1% in the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 5,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after buying an additional 5,513 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its position in shares of Hershey by 94.7% in the fourth quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 17,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,237,000 after purchasing an additional 8,500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of HSY stock opened at $198.00 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $40.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.33. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $191.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $190.76. The Hershey Company has a one year low of $178.82 and a one year high of $275.89.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.74 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 50.15% and a net margin of 18.13%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.96 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 54.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

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 transaction of $278,745.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,196,824.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HSY has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Edward Jones reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $213.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, March 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hershey has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $212.78.

About Hershey

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.