Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Sells 992 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 12.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,738 shares of the company’s stock after selling 992 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,292,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Hershey by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 320,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,951,000 after buying an additional 29,246 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Hershey by 179.4% during the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 6,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,353,000 after acquiring an additional 4,468 shares during the period. Oak Harvest Investment Services bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 1st quarter valued at $5,383,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 119.8% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 91,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,633,000 after purchasing an additional 50,014 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 239.2% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 22,035 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,286,000 after purchasing an additional 15,538 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on HSY shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Hershey from $209.00 to $205.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Hershey in a report on Monday, August 12th. They set a “sell” rating and a $185.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Hershey from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $184.00 to $163.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Hershey from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $226.00 to $209.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $191.55.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In related news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.17, for a total transaction of $107,153.46. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $644,912.46. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HSY opened at $181.26 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.67 billion, a PE ratio of 20.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.37. The Hershey Company has a 52 week low of $178.82 and a 52 week high of $211.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $192.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $192.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 16.76% and a return on equity of 45.36%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.01 EPS. Analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 9.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.89%.

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.