HBW Advisory Services LLC Acquires 188 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

HBW Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,977 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $2,367,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the third quarter worth $1,337,000. 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 in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Hershey by 61.9% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 120,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,052,000 after purchasing an additional 45,936 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 320,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,951,000 after purchasing an additional 29,246 shares during the period. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 55.6% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 8,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,423,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on HSY. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Hershey from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $230.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Hershey from $165.00 to $159.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Hershey from $202.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Hershey from $188.00 to $180.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $182.21.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of HSY traded down $3.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $158.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,371,933 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,428,094. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $157.80 and a 1-year high of $211.92. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $174.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.61. The stock has a market cap of $32.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.27, a PEG ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.38.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 63.13%.

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.