Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Increases Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 34.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,328 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,370 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $902,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HSY. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 62.4% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 160,807 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,840,000 after purchasing an additional 61,765 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 54,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,490,000 after purchasing an additional 3,071 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $707,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the 3rd quarter valued at about $369,000. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 5,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $979,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Trading Down 0.9 %

HSY opened at $170.32 on Monday. The Hershey Company has a one year low of $140.13 and a one year high of $211.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.47 billion, a PE ratio of 15.63, a P/E/G ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.32. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $162.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released 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 return on equity of 44.77% and a net margin of 19.83%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.00, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on HSY shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Hershey from $150.00 to $134.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Mizuho cut their price objective on Hershey from $170.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler lowered Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $153.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Hershey from $190.00 to $172.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Bernstein Bank cut their price objective 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hershey has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $163.75.

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.