The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Position Lessened by Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. trimmed its position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 20,776 shares of the company’s stock after selling 521 shares during the quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $3,873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 754 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 0.4% during the third quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC now owns 14,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,853,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.1% during the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 5,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,052,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,138 shares of the company’s stock worth $212,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on HSY shares. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hershey has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $223.33.

Hershey Stock Down 0.5 %

HSY stock opened at $186.16 on Friday. The Hershey Company has a twelve month low of $178.82 and a twelve month high of $276.88. The company has a market cap of $37.97 billion, a PE ratio of 20.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.34. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $191.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $190.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. Hershey had a return on equity of 51.79% and a net margin of 16.67%. The business had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.72 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This is an increase from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total transaction of $278,745.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,196,824.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total transaction of $89,938.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total transaction of $278,745.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 38,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,196,824.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,453 shares of company stock valued at $665,534 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.