Hilltop Holdings Inc. Sells 10,884 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Hilltop Holdings Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 81.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,465 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,884 shares during the quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $512,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Hershey during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Reflection Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 123.0% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Hershey from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Hershey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Hershey from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $208.28.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $180.41 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $180.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $196.91. Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $161.43 and a fifty-two week high of $239.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.11.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.31. Hershey had a return on equity of 28.98% and a net margin of 9.12%.The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 8.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $1.452 per share. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 108.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.43, for a total transaction of $260,145.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 54,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,485,753.85. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Hershey

The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is a leading North American chocolatier and snack manufacturer headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The company develops, produces and markets a wide range of confectionery and snack products for retail, foodservice and international customers. Hershey’s business spans manufacturing, branded product marketing, packaging and distribution across grocery, convenience, mass merchant and e-commerce channels.

Hershey’s product portfolio centers on chocolate and sugar confectionery, including core brands such as Hershey’s, Reese’s, Hershey’s Kisses and Twizzlers, alongside non-chocolate snacks and confectionery brands.