King Luther Capital Management Corp Sells 263 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

King Luther Capital Management Corp trimmed its position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 15.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,400 shares of the company’s stock after selling 263 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Hershey were worth $261,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of HSY. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA increased its holdings in Hershey by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $683,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 5,839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP lifted its position in Hershey by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP now owns 9,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,793,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accurate Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Hershey by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold 4,500 shares of company stock valued at $882,405 in the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HSY. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Edward Jones restated a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $213.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Hershey has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $213.06.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of HSY opened at $197.00 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $195.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $192.32. The Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $178.82 and a 52-week high of $263.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.84 billion, a PE ratio of 19.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.33.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.33. Hershey had a net margin of 18.13% and a return on equity of 50.15%. The company had revenue of $3.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.96 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict 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 $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 54.31%.

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.