Tortoise Investment Management LLC Lowers Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Tortoise Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 13.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 454 shares of the company’s stock after selling 71 shares during the quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $77,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HSY. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 248.0% during the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 61.7% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on HSY. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Hershey from $189.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Hershey from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Bernstein Bank reduced their price target on Hershey from $177.00 to $146.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Hershey from $171.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other Hershey 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,682 shares in the company, valued at approximately $396,936. The trade was a 9.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hershey Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE HSY opened at $186.19 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The Hershey Company has a twelve month low of $140.13 and a twelve month high of $211.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.69 billion, a PE ratio of 17.08, a P/E/G ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $161.83 and its 200 day moving average is $176.33.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Hershey’s payout ratio is 50.28%.

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.