Focus Partners Wealth Has $35.11 Million Stock Holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) by 76.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 207,089 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 89,720 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth owned 0.10% of Hershey worth $35,108,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HSY. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp now owns 4,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $762,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A now owns 3,240 shares of the company's stock valued at $549,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in Hershey by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 5,546 shares of the company's stock valued at $939,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Hershey by 42.5% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 238 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in Hershey by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 5,438 shares of the company's stock valued at $921,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on HSY shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Hershey from $184.00 to $148.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Hershey from $150.00 to $134.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Hershey from $147.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup decreased their target price on Hershey from $173.00 to $165.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Hershey from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $161.40.

Hershey Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of NYSE:HSY traded down $4.23 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $163.35. The stock had a trading volume of 2,246,034 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,771,573. The company has a market cap of $33.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.99, a PEG ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.32. The Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $140.13 and a 12 month high of $211.92. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $167.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $168.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

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

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. Hershey's dividend payout ratio is currently 67.57%.

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.