USS Investment Management Ltd Sells 2,683 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

USS Investment Management Ltd lowered its holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 56,005 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,683 shares during the quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Hershey were worth $9,488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Montag & Caldwell LLC bought a new position in Hershey in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Hershey by 42.5% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 238 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on HSY shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Hershey from $178.00 to $175.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Bernstein Bank lowered their price objective on Hershey from $177.00 to $146.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Hershey from $125.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Hershey from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $161.40.

Hershey Stock Up 1.4%

NYSE HSY traded up $2.21 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $157.56. The stock had a trading volume of 759,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,782,993. The stock has a market cap of $31.92 billion, a PE ratio of 14.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.32. The Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $140.13 and a 1 year high of $208.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $164.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $166.76.

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

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Hershey's dividend payout ratio is currently 67.57%.

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.