The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Shares Purchased by Glenview Trust co

Glenview Trust co lifted its holdings in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,739 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the quarter. Glenview Trust co’s holdings in Hershey were worth $803,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HSY. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at $80,978,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 66.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 972,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,571,000 after acquiring an additional 389,404 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,029,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,348,127,000 after acquiring an additional 386,670 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,635,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $785,003,000 after acquiring an additional 247,675 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 586,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,491,000 after acquiring an additional 139,831 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HSY has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Hershey from $171.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Hershey from $164.00 to $149.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Hershey from $190.00 to $172.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Hershey from $150.00 to $134.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Hershey from $125.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $163.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.00, for a total transaction of $41,144.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $396,936. The trade was a 9.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hershey Stock Up 0.2 %

HSY opened at $170.51 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $162.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.64, a P/E/G ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.32. The Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $140.13 and a 12 month high of $211.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 44.77% and a net margin of 19.83%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.