Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 4,940 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 15.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 27,651 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,940 shares during the period. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $4,683,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Avestar Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 6.0% during the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp boosted its position in Hershey by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $762,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A grew its holdings in Hershey by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A now owns 3,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $549,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its position in shares of Hershey by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 5,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $939,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 5,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $921,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bernstein Bank cut their price target on Hershey from $177.00 to $146.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler downgraded Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $153.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Hershey from $170.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Hershey from $164.00 to $149.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Hershey in a research note on Monday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $183.00 target price for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $162.50.

Hershey Stock Performance

HSY stock opened at $170.79 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $34.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.67, a P/E/G ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.32. The Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $140.13 and a 12 month high of $211.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $163.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $174.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.29. Hershey had a return on equity of 44.77% and a net margin of 19.83%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. 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 3.21%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.28%.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In related news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,682 shares in the company, valued at $396,936. This represents a 9.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by 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.