Amalgamated Bank Decreases Holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Amalgamated Bank lowered its stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,881 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,667 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Hershey were worth $6,876,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in Hershey in the third quarter worth about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. First Financial Corp IN purchased a new stake in Hershey in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Highlander Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 125.3% during the fourth quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on HSY shares. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays increased their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $191.00 to $183.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. 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, Hershey currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $212.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other Hershey 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 transaction 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 approximately $7,196,824.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $197.92 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $191.93 and its 200 day moving average is $190.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $178.82 and a 1 year high of $275.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.33.

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

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Hershey’s 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.