The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Shares Sold by DT Investment Partners LLC

DT Investment Partners LLC cut its stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 32.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,951 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,734 shares during the period. DT Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $2,363,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 23.3% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 333 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its position in Hershey by 1.6% during the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 4,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $792,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC lifted its position in Hershey by 6.0% during the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management lifted its position in Hershey by 1.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 6,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,152,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parthenon LLC lifted its position in Hershey by 0.3% during the third quarter. Parthenon LLC now owns 24,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,649,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hershey Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $160.92 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $163.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $179.71. The firm has a market cap of $32.56 billion, a PE ratio of 14.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.37. The Hershey Company has a 12-month low of $140.13 and a 12-month high of $211.92.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, equities research analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 6.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be paid a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of the business’s 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 completion of 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HSY has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $150.00 to $134.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bernstein Bank reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $177.00 to $146.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $189.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup raised shares of Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $159.00 to $154.00 in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $184.00 to $148.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.15.

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.