Enhancing Capital LLC Makes New $397,000 Investment in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Enhancing Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 2,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $397,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 248.0% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 61.7% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. City State Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 210.0% in the 4th quarter. City State Bank now owns 310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at about $54,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HSY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Hershey from $190.00 to $172.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Hershey from $150.00 to $134.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Hershey from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $178.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Hershey from $189.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $163.75.

Hershey Stock Down 0.7 %

HSY stock opened at $169.26 on Wednesday. The Hershey Company has a one year low of $140.13 and a one year high of $211.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $162.29 and its 200 day moving average is $175.43. The firm has a market cap of $34.26 billion, a PE ratio of 15.53, a P/E/G ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.32.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.29. Hershey had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 44.77%. On average, research analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. Hershey’s payout ratio is 50.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

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 value of $41,144.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.