Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. Buys Shares of 1,875 The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,875 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $318,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Montag & Caldwell LLC bought a new position in Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on HSY. Piper Sandler downgraded Hershey from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $153.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Hershey from $183.00 to $177.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays boosted their price target on Hershey from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. DA Davidson upped their price target on Hershey from $162.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Bernstein Bank decreased their price target on Hershey from $177.00 to $146.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $162.15.

Hershey Stock Performance

HSY traded up $5.50 on Thursday, hitting $161.40. 2,387,974 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,789,040. The Hershey Company has a 52 week low of $140.13 and a 52 week high of $208.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.70 billion, a PE ratio of 14.81, a P/E/G ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.32. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $164.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $166.62.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.15. Hershey had a return on equity of 44.77% and a net margin of 19.83%. The firm had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.07 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. Hershey's dividend payout ratio is 67.57%.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 974 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $470,387.34. This represents a 24.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.34% 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.