Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Has $522,000 Stock Position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH decreased its stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) by 43.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,050 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,329 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH's holdings in Hershey were worth $522,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HSY. Ethos Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 59.8% in the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 3,962 shares of the company's stock worth $671,000 after buying an additional 1,483 shares during the period. DJE Kapital AG acquired a new position in Hershey in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,040,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Hershey by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,635,390 shares of the company's stock worth $785,003,000 after purchasing an additional 247,675 shares during the period. Global View Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Hershey during the 4th quarter worth approximately $253,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at $1,692,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Hershey from $147.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Hershey from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Hershey from $178.00 to $175.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $173.00 to $165.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $125.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hershey has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $158.84.

Hershey Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of Hershey stock traded down $1.51 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $168.90. 1,262,502 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,793,446. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.59. Hershey Company has a 52 week low of $140.13 and a 52 week high of $208.03. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $164.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $165.60. The company has a market cap of $34.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 0.29.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.15. Hershey had a return on equity of 38.70% and a net margin of 15.32%. The company had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.81 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.07 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Hershey's payout ratio is 67.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 974 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.11, for a total value of $153,025.14. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $470,387.34. This trade represents a 24.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michele Buck sold 31,210 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.80, for a total value of $5,018,568.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 193,624 shares in the company, valued at $31,134,739.20. The trade was a 13.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

About Hershey

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.