Grimes & Company Inc. Acquires 22,352 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Grimes & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 29.8% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 97,460 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,352 shares during the quarter. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $16,669,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in HSY. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 46,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,910,000 after acquiring an additional 3,578 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 33,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,757,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Hershey by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 86,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,879,000 after purchasing an additional 4,596 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Hershey by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 6,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,017,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Hershey by 129.7% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 7,122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,206,000 after purchasing an additional 4,022 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, CEO Michele Buck sold 31,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.80, for a total value of $5,018,568.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 193,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,134,739.20. This represents a 13.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 974 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.11, for a total value of $153,025.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,387.34. The trade was a 24.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE HSY opened at $170.40 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market cap of $34.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.63, a PEG ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.29. The Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $140.13 and a 12 month high of $208.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $164.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $165.57.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.81 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 44.77% and a net margin of 19.83%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.07 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 67.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HSY has been the subject of several recent research reports. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Hershey from $162.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Hershey from $173.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Hershey from $167.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Hershey from $178.00 to $175.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $158.84.

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.