Private Trust Co. NA Boosts Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,438 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the quarter. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Hershey were worth $921,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp raised its position in Hershey by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,029,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,348,127,000 after buying an additional 386,670 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Hershey by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,387,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $841,476,000 after buying an additional 109,336 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Hershey by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,753,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $717,606,000 after buying an additional 35,688 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Hershey by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 972,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,571,000 after buying an additional 389,404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in Hershey by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 964,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $185,027,000 after buying an additional 29,507 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.00, for a total transaction of $41,144.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,682 shares in the company, valued at $396,936. The trade was a 9.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hershey Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of HSY stock opened at $172.68 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $160.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.84, a PEG ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.37. The Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $140.13 and a fifty-two week high of $211.92.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.29. Hershey had a return on equity of 44.77% and a net margin of 19.83%. Research analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a $1.37 dividend. 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 payout ratio is currently 50.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on HSY shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $189.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Piper Sandler cut shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $153.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.15.

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.