The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Stock Position Raised by Almanack Investment Partners LLC.

Almanack Investment Partners LLC. increased its stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 12.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,723 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. Almanack Investment Partners LLC.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $292,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of HSY. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 5.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,029,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,348,127,000 after buying an additional 386,670 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Hershey by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,387,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $841,476,000 after acquiring an additional 109,336 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,753,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,606,000 after purchasing an additional 35,688 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 66.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 972,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,571,000 after purchasing an additional 389,404 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in Hershey by 3.2% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 964,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $185,027,000 after purchasing an additional 29,507 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $153.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Hershey from $190.00 to $172.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays dropped their target price on Hershey from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Bernstein Bank reduced their price target on Hershey from $177.00 to $146.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Hershey from $171.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $166.35.

Insider Activity

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.00, for a total transaction of $41,144.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,682 shares in the company, valued at $396,936. The trade was a 9.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hershey Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of HSY stock opened at $154.98 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.38. The Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $140.13 and a 1 year high of $211.92. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $164.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.29. Hershey had a net margin of 16.17% and a return on equity of 43.24%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 9.06 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 63.13%.

About Hershey

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.