Stokes Family Office LLC Cuts Stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Stokes Family Office LLC lessened its holdings in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 11.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,241 shares of the company’s stock after selling 157 shares during the period. Stokes Family Office LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $231,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HSY. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new stake in Hershey in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. First Financial Corp IN purchased a new stake in Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Highlander Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Hershey by 125.3% in the fourth quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup decreased their price target on Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Edward Jones restated a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, April 19th. BNP Paribas cut Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Hershey from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hershey has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $212.78.

Hershey Price Performance

HSY traded up $2.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $197.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,396,043 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,711,441. 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 Hershey Company has a twelve month low of $178.82 and a twelve month high of $275.89. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $191.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $190.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.33.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.33. Hershey had a return on equity of 51.79% and a net margin of 16.67%. The company had revenue of $3.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.96 earnings per share. Hershey’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.55%.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total value of $278,745.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,196,824.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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.