Hartford Investment Management Co. Has $1.54 Million Stock Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Hartford Investment Management Co. lowered its stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,081 shares of the company’s stock after selling 176 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,538,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Hershey by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,029,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,348,127,000 after purchasing an additional 386,670 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 2.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,387,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $841,476,000 after purchasing an additional 109,336 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,753,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,606,000 after purchasing an additional 35,688 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 66.7% during the third 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. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 3.2% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 964,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $185,027,000 after buying an additional 29,507 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.00, for a total transaction of $41,144.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $396,936. This trade represents a 9.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on HSY. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $178.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Hershey from $150.00 to $134.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $153.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Hershey from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Hershey from $184.00 to $148.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hershey currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.15.

Hershey Trading Up 1.8 %

HSY stock opened at $160.92 on Friday. The Hershey Company has a one year low of $140.13 and a one year high of $211.92. The stock has a market cap of $32.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $163.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $179.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.29. Hershey had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 44.77%. Equities analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 50.28%.

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.