Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Buys 241 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 51.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 710 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $120,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Hershey by 66.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 972,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,571,000 after purchasing an additional 389,404 shares in the last quarter. Woodstock Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 34.8% in the 4th quarter. Woodstock Corp now owns 6,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,168,000 after buying an additional 1,780 shares during the period. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Hershey during the 4th quarter worth about $1,939,000. Ethos Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 59.8% during the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 3,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $671,000 after purchasing an additional 1,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in Hershey by 61.9% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 120,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,052,000 after purchasing an additional 45,936 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on HSY shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Hershey from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Bernstein Bank decreased their target price on shares of Hershey from $177.00 to $146.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Hershey from $170.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $178.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler downgraded Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $153.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hershey currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $162.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey 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. This trade represents a 9.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $169.55 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $164.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $173.25. The firm has a market cap of $34.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.32. The Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $140.13 and a fifty-two week high of $211.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.28%.

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.