Northstar Advisory Group LLC Has $655,000 Holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Northstar Advisory Group LLC lessened its stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 67.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,511 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,356 shares during the quarter. Northstar Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $655,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new position in Hershey during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in shares of Hershey in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 121.3% in the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO bought a new position in shares of Hershey in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on HSY shares. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Bank of America lowered shares of Hershey from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $200.00 in a report on Friday, December 15th. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Hershey from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $240.00 to $200.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $225.48.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.97, for a total transaction of $283,455.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,634,329.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.97, for a total transaction of $283,455.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,634,329.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Charles R. Raup sold 2,065 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.85, for a total value of $396,170.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 14,770 shares in the company, valued at $2,833,624.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,518 shares of company stock valued at $1,066,414. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hershey Stock Performance

NYSE HSY opened at $195.46 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $193.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $192.79. The Hershey Company has a 12-month low of $178.82 and a 12-month high of $276.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $39.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.40, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.34.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. Hershey had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 51.79%. The business had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. Hershey’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. This is an increase from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.55%.

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.