Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. Sells 1,140 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,805 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,140 shares during the period. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $8,017,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BTS Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Hershey during the 3rd quarter valued at about $205,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Hershey by 30,461.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 573,643 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,100,130,000 after buying an additional 571,766 shares during the period. Monte Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Hershey by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Monte Financial Group LLC now owns 32,292 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,193,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Coston McIsaac & Partners boosted its position in Hershey by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 19,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,784,000 after buying an additional 582 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust boosted its position in Hershey by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 13,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,499,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on HSY shares. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $230.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group cut shares of Hershey from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $226.00 to $209.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Hershey from $204.00 to $202.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Argus cut shares of Hershey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Hershey from $191.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $192.80.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.17, for a total value of $107,153.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $644,912.46. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE:HSY opened at $181.98 on Thursday. The Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $178.82 and a 1-year high of $211.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.04, a PEG ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 0.37. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $193.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $192.88.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 16.76% and a return on equity of 45.36%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.01 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.31%.

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.