First Horizon Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lowered its position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 55.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 349 shares of the company’s stock after selling 430 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $65,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wealth Alliance lifted its position in Hershey by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 1,263.3% in the 4th 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 period. Reliant Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Hershey during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,173,000. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated increased its position in Hershey by 78,757.1% during the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 5,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,029,000 after buying an additional 5,513 shares during the period. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its stake in Hershey by 94.7% in the fourth quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 17,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,237,000 after buying an additional 8,500 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, January 29th. Edward Jones restated a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Barclays upped their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $213.06.

Hershey Price Performance

HSY stock opened at $198.11 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $40.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.63, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $192.30 and a 200-day moving average of $190.85. The Hershey Company has a 12-month low of $178.82 and a 12-month high of $275.89.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.11 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 50.15% and a net margin of 18.13%. Hershey’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hershey 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.