Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Lowers Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lessened its stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,414 shares of the company’s stock after selling 733 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Hershey were worth $5,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HSY. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 248.0% in the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 174 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its stake in Hershey by 61.7% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. City State Bank raised its stake in Hershey by 210.0% during the fourth quarter. City State Bank now owns 310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new stake in Hershey during the fourth quarter valued at $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $170.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $164.00 to $149.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $150.00 to $134.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $153.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Hershey from $171.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $163.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $396,936. This represents a 9.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hershey Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE HSY opened at $167.38 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $140.13 and a 12 month high of $211.92. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $162.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.96. The stock has a market cap of $33.88 billion, a PE ratio of 15.36, a PEG ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.32.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Hershey’s payout ratio is 50.28%.

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.