Compass Capital Corp MA ADV Invests $247,000 in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Compass Capital Corp MA ADV bought a new stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $247,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Hershey by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 972,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,571,000 after purchasing an additional 389,404 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 5.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,029,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,348,127,000 after buying an additional 386,670 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 31.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 586,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,491,000 after buying an additional 139,831 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 2.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,387,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $841,476,000 after buying an additional 109,336 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 95.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 218,055 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,558,000 after buying an additional 106,450 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the company. 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. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Bernstein Bank lowered their price objective 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. Citigroup upgraded shares of Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $159.00 to $154.00 in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Hershey from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 2,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $396,936. The trade was a 9.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hershey Trading Up 4.2 %

Shares of HSY stock opened at $173.03 on Friday. The Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $140.13 and a fifty-two week high of $211.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $160.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.37. The stock has a market cap of $35.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.87, a P/E/G ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 0.37.

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

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 50.28%.

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.