Northstar Group Inc. Sells 107 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Northstar Group Inc. lessened its position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,132 shares of the company’s stock after selling 107 shares during the quarter. Northstar Group Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $361,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at $128,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 20,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,535,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. now owns 28,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,775,000 after buying an additional 491 shares during the period. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 7,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,216,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management boosted its holdings in Hershey by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 2,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on HSY shares. Citigroup upgraded Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $159.00 to $154.00 in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Hershey from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $184.00 to $148.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $178.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Hershey from $189.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $166.35.

Hershey Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE HSY opened at $154.98 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $31.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.85, a P/E/G ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.38. The Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $140.13 and a 12 month high of $211.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $164.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $180.78.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.29. Hershey had a return on equity of 43.24% and a net margin of 16.17%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 9.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. Hershey’s payout ratio is 63.13%.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were 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 directly owns 2,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $396,936. This represents a 9.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.