Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. Has $184,000 Stock Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 91.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 959 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 459 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $184,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,387,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $841,476,000 after purchasing an additional 109,336 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 389,404 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 787,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,743,000 after buying an additional 25,780 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 23.2% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 783,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,962,000 after buying an additional 147,215 shares during the period. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 297.9% during the 2nd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 717,831 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,959,000 after buying an additional 537,419 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on HSY. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $191.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $195.00 to $182.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Barclays decreased their price objective 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. UBS Group downgraded shares of Hershey from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $226.00 to $209.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $163.00 to $161.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $189.33.

Hershey Price Performance

NYSE:HSY opened at $174.09 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $183.01 and a 200-day moving average of $190.39. The company has a market capitalization of $35.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.06, a PEG ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.38. The Hershey Company has a 52 week low of $168.16 and a 52 week high of $211.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.