The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Shares Bought by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,103 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 102 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $979,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Hershey during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 218.2% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 140 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 55.0% during the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 155 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Hershey in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Hershey in the first quarter valued at $35,000. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on HSY. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group lowered shares of Hershey from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $226.00 to $209.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $202.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Hershey from $165.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hershey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $189.33.

Hershey Trading Down 4.5 %

NYSE:HSY opened at $170.92 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $187.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $191.79. The Hershey Company has a 12-month low of $170.58 and a 12-month high of $211.92. The firm has a market cap of $34.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.69, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.38.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

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.