The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Shares Sold by Signaturefd LLC

Signaturefd LLC cut its stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 12.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,640 shares of the company’s stock after selling 388 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $492,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Alliance boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $212,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Reliant Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,173,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its holdings in Hershey by 94.7% in the fourth quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 17,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,237,000 after buying an additional 8,500 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Hershey by 91.4% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 91,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,111,000 after buying an additional 43,836 shares during the period. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new position in Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,603,000. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $296,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 40,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,961,121.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $296,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 40,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,961,121.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total transaction of $89,938.62. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,453 shares of company stock valued at $665,534 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on HSY shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $191.00 to $183.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hershey currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $223.33.

Hershey Stock Up 0.6 %

HSY stock opened at $188.14 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $38.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.79, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.34. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $190.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The Hershey Company has a twelve month low of $178.82 and a twelve month high of $276.88.

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

Hershey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This is an increase from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. 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.