Short Interest in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Declines By 6.7%

The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,950,000 shares, a decline of 6.7% from the December 15th total of 7,450,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,090,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Hershey Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE HSY traded down $1.20 on Friday, hitting $152.82. The company had a trading volume of 1,937,259 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,299,500. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Hershey has a 12-month low of $150.31 and a 12-month high of $211.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.61, a PEG ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a 50 day moving average of $171.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.39.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.13%.

Institutional Trading of Hershey

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HSY. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Hershey by 30,461.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 573,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,100,130,000 after acquiring an additional 571,766 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Hershey by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 972,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,571,000 after purchasing an additional 389,404 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 386,670 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 586,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,491,000 after buying an additional 139,831 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Hershey by 2.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,387,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $841,476,000 after buying an additional 109,336 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Hershey from $163.00 to $161.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Hershey from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $230.00 to $205.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Hershey from $190.00 to $172.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $176.42.

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.