TD Asset Management Inc Sells 41,433 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

TD Asset Management Inc lowered its holdings in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 15.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 220,465 shares of the company’s stock after selling 41,433 shares during the quarter. TD Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Hershey were worth $40,120,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HSY. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $272,506,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Hershey by 240.0% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,262,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,183,000 after purchasing an additional 891,287 shares during the period. Candlestick Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Hershey in the third quarter valued at approximately $64,469,000. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hershey in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,464,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Hershey by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,137,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $206,926,000 after purchasing an additional 195,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on HSY. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Hershey from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Hershey from $225.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 4th. TD Cowen raised shares of Hershey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Hershey from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $218.06.

Hershey Stock Performance

NYSE HSY opened at $184.42 on Friday. Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $160.07 and a 1 year high of $239.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.41 billion, a PE ratio of 34.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.09. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $194.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $198.75.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.31. Hershey had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 28.98%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a $1.452 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 108.19%.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.10, for a total value of $291,150.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 57,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,198,599.50. This represents a 2.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hershey Company Profile

The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is a leading North American chocolatier and snack manufacturer headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The company develops, produces and markets a wide range of confectionery and snack products for retail, foodservice and international customers. Hershey’s business spans manufacturing, branded product marketing, packaging and distribution across grocery, convenience, mass merchant and e-commerce channels.

Hershey’s product portfolio centers on chocolate and sugar confectionery, including core brands such as Hershey’s, Reese’s, Hershey’s Kisses and Twizzlers, alongside non-chocolate snacks and confectionery brands.