Truist Financial Corp Lowers Holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Truist Financial Corp lessened its holdings in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) by 69.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,649 shares of the company's stock after selling 123,647 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp's holdings in Hershey were worth $10,375,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in HSY. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 143.7% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,465,403 shares of the company's stock valued at $496,039,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453,819 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Hershey by 18,495.8% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 295,673 shares of the company's stock worth $55,125,000 after purchasing an additional 294,083 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Hershey by 1.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,911,173 shares of the company's stock worth $2,983,427,000 after purchasing an additional 222,960 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in Hershey in the third quarter worth $33,672,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Hershey by 270.8% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 197,312 shares of the company's stock worth $39,478,000 after purchasing an additional 144,103 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on HSY shares. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 15th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Hershey from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $235.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Hershey from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $191.00 to $183.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $212.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total transaction of $278,745.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,196,824.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Hershey Stock Performance

NYSE HSY traded up $2.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $197.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,394,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,991,283. The Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $178.82 and a 12 month high of $275.89. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $191.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $190.72. The company has a market cap of $40.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.72 by $0.35. Hershey had a return on equity of 51.79% and a net margin of 16.67%. The company had revenue of $3.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.96 EPS. Hershey's revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. Hershey's dividend payout ratio is currently 60.55%.

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.