Jennifer Mccalman Sells 278 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Stock

The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.00, for a total value 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 $396,936. The trade was a 9.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Hershey Stock Performance

NYSE:HSY opened at $152.43 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.56, a PEG ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a 50 day moving average of $165.24 and a 200 day moving average of $180.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $140.13 and a 1-year high of $211.92.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.29. Hershey had a net margin of 16.17% and a return on equity of 43.24%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 9.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HSY. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Hershey from $150.00 to $134.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Hershey from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $171.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Bernstein Bank lowered their target price on shares of Hershey from $177.00 to $146.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $178.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research report on Monday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $167.10.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of HSY. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Hershey by 30,461.7% during the 3rd 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. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $80,978,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 66.7% in the third 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 increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 5.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,029,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,348,127,000 after buying an additional 386,670 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Hershey by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,635,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $785,003,000 after buying an additional 247,675 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

About Hershey

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.