Sanctuary Advisors LLC Cuts Holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,998 shares of the company’s stock after selling 254 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $3,048,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its stake in Hershey by 23.3% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 4,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $792,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Hershey by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Parthenon LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Parthenon LLC now owns 24,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,649,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Hershey by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,151 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,563,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.00, for a total transaction of $41,144.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,682 shares in the company, valued at approximately $396,936. This trade represents a 9.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hershey Stock Up 4.2 %

HSY stock opened at $173.03 on Friday. The Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $140.13 and a fifty-two week high of $211.92. The company has a market capitalization of $35.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.37. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $160.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $178.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.29. Hershey had a return on equity of 44.77% and a net margin of 19.83%. 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on HSY. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Hershey from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler cut Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $153.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Hershey from $171.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on Hershey from $190.00 to $172.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.15.

Hershey 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.