Truist Financial Corp Has $10.38 Million Stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Truist Financial Corp cut its stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 69.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,649 shares of the company’s stock after selling 123,647 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Hershey were worth $10,375,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Alliance grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $212,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1,263.3% in the fourth quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 15,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,816,000 after purchasing an additional 13,997 shares during the last quarter. Reliant Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter worth $4,173,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its holdings in Hershey by 94.7% during the fourth quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 17,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,237,000 after purchasing an additional 8,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Hershey by 91.4% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 91,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,111,000 after purchasing an additional 43,836 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $195.91 on Friday. The Hershey Company has a 12-month low of $178.82 and a 12-month high of $276.71. The business has a 50 day moving average of $191.85 and a 200-day moving average of $190.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $39.96 billion, a PE ratio of 21.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.33.

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

Hershey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $1.37 dividend. This is a boost from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. Hershey’s payout ratio is 60.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total value 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 $7,196,824.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HSY has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, January 29th. 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $213.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Edward Jones restated a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, April 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $212.78.

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.