International Assets Investment Management LLC Sells 570,801 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

International Assets Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 99.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,842 shares of the company’s stock after selling 570,801 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $480,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. Diversified Trust Co purchased a new position in Hershey during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in Hershey by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 24,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,157,000 after purchasing an additional 3,841 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 55.6% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 8,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,423,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Hershey by 35.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $930,000 after buying an additional 1,435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Hershey by 66.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 972,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,571,000 after buying an additional 389,404 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on HSY shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $230.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $165.00 to $159.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $202.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $163.00 to $161.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Hershey in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “sell” rating and a $165.00 price objective for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $182.21.

Hershey Price Performance

HSY opened at $158.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $32.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.25, a PEG ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.38. The Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $156.10 and a 1 year high of $211.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $174.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.41.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

Hershey Company 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.