The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Shares Sold by Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. decreased its position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,592 shares of the company’s stock after selling 60 shares during the quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $670,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in Hershey in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. First Financial Corp IN purchased a new position in Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Highlander Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Hershey by 125.3% during the fourth quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hershey Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:HSY opened at $186.16 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $37.97 billion, a PE ratio of 20.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $178.82 and a 52-week high of $276.88. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $190.62.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. Hershey had a return on equity of 51.79% and a net margin of 16.67%. The business had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $1.37 dividend. This is an increase from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 60.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Edward Jones restated a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Hershey from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $223.33.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total value of $278,745.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 38,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,196,824.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total value of $89,938.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total value of $278,745.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 38,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,196,824.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,453 shares of company stock valued at $665,534. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.