Equitable Trust Co. Lowers Holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Equitable Trust Co. trimmed its holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 10.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,335 shares of the company’s stock after selling 148 shares during the quarter. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $226,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Hershey by 24.4% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 9,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,886,000 after purchasing an additional 1,927 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Hershey by 59.5% during the third quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,015 shares of the company’s stock worth $770,000 after purchasing an additional 1,498 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake in Hershey by 130.1% during the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 965 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional lifted its stake in Hershey by 4.7% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 7,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,427,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its stake in Hershey by 52.4% during the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 2,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $489,000 after purchasing an additional 877 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on HSY. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Hershey from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays decreased their price target on Hershey from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Hershey from $184.00 to $148.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. 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. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $165.05.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.00, for a total value of $41,144.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $396,936. This represents a 9.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Up 2.5 %

Hershey stock opened at $158.34 on Wednesday. The Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $140.13 and a 1-year high of $211.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $32.04 billion, a PE ratio of 14.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.37. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $163.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $180.11.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 6.77 EPS 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 paid a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.28%.

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.