The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Shares Purchased by Avior Wealth Management LLC

Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,048 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $516,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted 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 worth $1,348,127,000 after purchasing an additional 386,670 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 2.6% in the third 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,753,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,606,000 after acquiring an additional 35,688 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 389,404 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in Hershey by 3.2% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 964,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $185,027,000 after purchasing an additional 29,507 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on HSY shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Hershey from $184.00 to $148.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group cut their price objective on Hershey from $189.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Hershey from $171.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $150.00 to $134.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.79.

Hershey Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of HSY stock opened at $150.54 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.34, a PEG ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 0.38. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $169.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $183.26. The Hershey Company has a twelve month low of $147.60 and a twelve month high of $211.92.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.