J. W. Coons Advisors LLC Has $210,000 Holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

J. W. Coons Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,240 shares of the company’s stock after selling 85 shares during the period. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Hershey in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 248.0% during the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 174 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Hershey during the third quarter worth $46,000. Finally, City State Bank grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 210.0% in the 4th quarter. City State Bank now owns 310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group decreased 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. Citigroup upgraded shares of Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $159.00 to $154.00 in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $178.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Hershey from $150.00 to $134.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hershey currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.15.

Hershey Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $178.12 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $160.47 and a 200-day moving average of $177.74. The Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $140.13 and a 52-week high of $211.92. The stock has a market cap of $36.04 billion, a PE ratio of 16.34, a PEG ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.37.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $396,936. This represents a 9.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.