Moors & Cabot Inc. Buys 286 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,301 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 286 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,575,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Hershey by 125.5% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 13,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,516,000 after purchasing an additional 7,302 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Hershey in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV acquired a new position in Hershey in the third quarter worth about $251,000. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Hershey in the third quarter worth about $1,237,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Hershey by 10.0% in the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Hershey from $171.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Hershey from $189.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price 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 shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $153.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Hershey from $164.00 to $149.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.15.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $171.67 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $162.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.75, a PEG ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.32. The Hershey Company has a 52 week low of $140.13 and a 52 week high of $211.92. 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 earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.29. Hershey had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 44.77%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. 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.