Private Trust Co. NA Buys 81 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,438 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Hershey were worth $921,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in Hershey by 5.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,029,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,348,127,000 after purchasing an additional 386,670 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Hershey by 2.6% during 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 raised its stake in Hershey by 1.0% during 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. raised its stake in Hershey by 66.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 972,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,571,000 after purchasing an additional 389,404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in Hershey by 3.2% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 964,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $185,027,000 after purchasing an additional 29,507 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on HSY. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $178.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Hershey from $190.00 to $172.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler cut shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $153.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Hershey from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.15.

Hershey Stock Performance

HSY stock opened at $172.68 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $34.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.84, a PEG ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.37. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $160.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $177.32. The Hershey Company has a one year low of $140.13 and a one year high of $211.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.29. Hershey had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 44.77%. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be given a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 50.28%.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In related news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 9.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.