William Allan Corp Raises Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

William Allan Corp lifted its stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 3.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,350 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. William Allan Corp’s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,410,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in Hershey during the third quarter worth $1,337,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Hershey by 10.0% in the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 320,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,951,000 after purchasing an additional 29,246 shares during the last quarter. MAI Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 11.6% during the third quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 123,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,620,000 after buying an additional 12,832 shares during the period. Portfolio Design Labs LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,852,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 18.9% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,386,000 after buying an additional 4,464 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:HSY opened at $174.09 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $35.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.06, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.38. 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 12 month low of $168.16 and a 12 month high of $211.92. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $190.28.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America cut their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group downgraded Hershey from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $226.00 to $209.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Argus downgraded shares of Hershey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Hershey from $202.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $189.33.

Hershey 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.