Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. Increases Stock Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,987 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 85 shares during the quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $675,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $80,978,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 66.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 972,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,571,000 after purchasing an additional 389,404 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 5.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,029,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,348,127,000 after purchasing an additional 386,670 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,635,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $785,003,000 after purchasing an additional 247,675 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Hershey by 31.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 586,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,491,000 after acquiring an additional 139,831 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on HSY. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Hershey from $190.00 to $172.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup raised shares of Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $159.00 to $154.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Hershey from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Hershey from $189.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Hershey from $150.00 to $134.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $163.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Performance

NYSE:HSY opened at $167.38 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $162.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.12. 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 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $33.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.32.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. Hershey’s 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.