Gleason Group Inc. Cuts Stock Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Gleason Group Inc. reduced its position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY – Get Rating) by 14.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 365 shares of the company’s stock after selling 63 shares during the quarter. Gleason Group Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $85,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its holdings in Hershey by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 30,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,665,000 after acquiring an additional 916 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Hershey during the 1st quarter valued at about $238,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Hershey by 28.8% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Hershey by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,057,990 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,045,383,000 after acquiring an additional 216,715 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. boosted its holdings in Hershey by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 32,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,972,000 after acquiring an additional 3,129 shares during the period. 54.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hershey Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $243.15 on Friday. The Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $201.42 and a 52-week high of $247.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.31. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $232.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $230.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.25. Hershey had a return on equity of 57.76% and a net margin of 15.79%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.69 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 17th were given a dividend of $1.036 per share. This represents a $4.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.01%.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In related news, SVP Jason Reiman sold 150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.83, for a total transaction of $35,224.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,986,333.11. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Jason Reiman sold 150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.83, for a total transaction of $35,224.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,986,333.11. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Charles R. Raup sold 1,512 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.38, for a total value of $357,406.56. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,241,478.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,727 shares of company stock valued at $11,522,062 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HSY has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Hershey from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Hershey from $231.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Hershey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Hershey from $255.00 to $277.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised Hershey from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $244.00 to $269.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $245.23.

Hershey Company Profile

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The Hershey Co engages in the manufacture and marketing of chocolate, sweets, mints and confectionery products. The firm operates through the following geographical segments: North America and International and Other. The North America is responsible for the traditional chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery market position of the company, as well as its grocery and snacks market positions, in the United States and Canada.