CENTRAL TRUST Co Decreases Holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

CENTRAL TRUST Co lowered its stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,784 shares of the company’s stock after selling 467 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Hershey were worth $2,875,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in shares of Hershey during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. First Financial Corp IN purchased a new position in Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in Hershey during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Highlander Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 125.3% during the fourth quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:HSY traded down $1.75 on Wednesday, reaching $205.60. 1,148,193 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,942,231. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.33. The Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $178.82 and a 52-week high of $263.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The business has a fifty day moving average of $195.50 and a 200-day moving average of $192.16.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.33. Hershey had a net margin of 18.13% and a return on equity of 50.15%. The firm had revenue of $3.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.96 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. Hershey’s payout ratio is 54.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HSY has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. BNP Paribas downgraded Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Edward Jones reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $213.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, March 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $213.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total transaction of $278,745.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,196,824.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.