KCM Investment Advisors LLC Sells 11,889 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

KCM Investment Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 91.2% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,149 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,889 shares during the quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $223,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hershey in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. First Financial Corp IN bought a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Highlander Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 125.3% during the fourth quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.93, for a total value of $274,395.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 35,728 shares in the company, valued at $6,535,723.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,500 shares of company stock valued at $859,950. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $210.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Hershey from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $179.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered shares of Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $209.67.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of HSY stock traded down $0.29 on Monday, reaching $188.65. 218,457 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,849,770. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $193.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $192.38. The Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $178.82 and a 1 year high of $248.93. The company has a market cap of $38.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.73, a P/E/G ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.11 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 50.15% and a net margin of 18.13%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.96 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.31%.

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.