Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 9,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,697,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. PFS Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. PFS Investments Inc. now owns 1,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 3,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $792,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 754 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC now owns 14,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,853,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,453 shares of company stock valued at $670,244. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hershey Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $185.02 on Friday. The Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $178.82 and a 1 year high of $276.88. The firm has a market cap of $37.73 billion, a PE ratio of 20.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $192.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $190.97. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. Hershey had a return on equity of 51.79% and a net margin of 16.67%. The company 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 posted $2.02 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on HSY shares. Morgan Stanley cut Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $191.00 to $183.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Citigroup cut their target price on Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. 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. increased 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. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $223.33.

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.