Rodgers Brothers Inc. Acquires 8,779 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Rodgers Brothers Inc. raised its holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 30.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 37,986 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,779 shares during the quarter. Rodgers Brothers Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $6,433,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in HSY. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter valued at about $80,978,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 972,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,571,000 after acquiring an additional 389,404 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Hershey by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,029,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,348,127,000 after acquiring an additional 386,670 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 5.6% in the 4th 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, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $21,439,000. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of HSY opened at $169.87 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $164.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $173.67. The firm has a market cap of $34.38 billion, a PE ratio of 15.58, a P/E/G ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $140.13 and a 1-year high of $211.92.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, equities analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $396,936. This represents a 9.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HSY has been the subject of a number of research reports. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Hershey from $164.00 to $149.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Hershey from $189.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Piper Sandler cut shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $153.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Hershey from $190.00 to $172.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Hershey from $184.00 to $148.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $162.50.

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.