Raymond James Trust N.A. trimmed its holdings in shares of Hershey Co (NYSE:HSY) by 11.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,651 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,062 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $2,300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Hershey by 108.1% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 155,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,030,000 after acquiring an additional 2,064,345 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 34,749.1% in the 2nd quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,015,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,154,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012,935 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,780,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,578,920,000 after purchasing an additional 537,363 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,555,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,171,011,000 after purchasing an additional 401,710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. raised its holdings in Hershey by 59.3% in the 2nd quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 986,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,243,000 after purchasing an additional 367,343 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 53.38% of the company’s stock.
Several analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group set a $147.00 price target on Hershey and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on Hershey in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $158.00 price target for the company. ValuEngine downgraded Hershey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Deutsche Bank assumed coverage on Hershey in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $155.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Hershey from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Hershey currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.27.
HSY opened at $148.83 on Wednesday. Hershey Co has a 52 week low of $100.80 and a 52 week high of $162.20. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $147.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $149.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a market cap of $31.32 billion, a PE ratio of 27.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.05.
Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.01. Hershey had a return on equity of 77.39% and a net margin of 16.18%. The business had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Hershey Co will post 5.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a dividend of $0.773 per share. This represents a $3.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.65%.
In other Hershey news, Director Pamela M. Arway sold 371 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.48, for a total transaction of $53,973.08. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,325,643.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Michele Buck sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.15, for a total transaction of $211,725.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,515,353.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,398 shares of company stock valued at $7,145,227 over the last 90 days. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
About Hershey
The Hershey Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells confectionery products. The company operates through two segments, North America; and International and Other. It offers chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery products; gum and mint refreshment products comprising mints, chewing gums, and bubble gums; pantry items, such as baking ingredients, toppings, beverages, and sundae syrups; and snack items, including spreads, meat snacks, bars and snack bites, mixes, popcorn and protein bars, and cookies.
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