Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Has $693,000 Stock Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. decreased its stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,716 shares of the company’s stock after selling 178 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $693,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Reliant Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter worth $4,173,000. Rheos Capital Works Inc. lifted its position in Hershey by 21.4% in the third quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 152,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,592,000 after purchasing an additional 27,000 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new position in Hershey in the fourth quarter worth $1,603,000. Fulcrum Capital LLC lifted its position in Hershey by 35.9% in the fourth quarter. Fulcrum Capital LLC now owns 37,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,955,000 after purchasing an additional 9,858 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Hershey by 396.6% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 173,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,599,000 after purchasing an additional 138,857 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of HSY opened at $182.53 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $193.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $191.29. The Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $178.82 and a 52-week high of $276.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.23 billion, a PE ratio of 20.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.34.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.72 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 51.79% and a net margin of 16.67%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.02 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 60.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total value of $89,938.62. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total value of $89,938.62. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Charles R. Raup sold 2,065 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.85, for a total value of $396,170.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,770 shares in the company, valued at $2,833,624.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,518 shares of company stock valued at $1,066,414. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on HSY. Citigroup reduced their target price on Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley cut Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $191.00 to $183.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $213.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, March 15th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, BNP Paribas cut Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $223.81.

Hershey Company 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.