Perigon Wealth Management LLC Sells 112 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Perigon Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,343 shares of the company’s stock after selling 112 shares during the quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $250,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of HSY. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in Hershey by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 30,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,665,000 after buying an additional 916 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management acquired a new position in Hershey during the 1st quarter worth about $238,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Hershey by 28.8% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Hershey by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,057,990 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,045,383,000 after buying an additional 216,715 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. lifted its holdings in Hershey by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 32,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,972,000 after buying an additional 3,129 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the business’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 directly owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $296,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,961,121.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $369,681.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,518 shares of company stock valued at $1,066,414. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on HSY shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Hershey from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $213.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, March 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hershey presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $223.33.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $182.45 on Thursday. The Hershey Company has a one year low of $178.82 and a one year high of $276.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.16, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.34. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $192.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $191.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 51.79% and a net margin of 16.67%. The firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 60.55%.

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.