The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Shares Purchased by Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 19.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 27,342 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,494 shares during the quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $4,630,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Hershey during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Hershey by 248.0% during the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Hershey during the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Hershey by 61.7% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, City State Bank increased its holdings in Hershey by 210.0% during the 4th quarter. City State Bank now owns 310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hershey Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of HSY stock opened at $163.88 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $33.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 0.37. 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 Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $140.13 and a fifty-two week high of $211.92. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $161.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $178.56.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HSY has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $190.00 to $172.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Hershey from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Hershey from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Hershey from $171.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $159.00 to $154.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average 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.