Distillate Capital Partners LLC Buys Shares of 104,508 The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Distillate Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 104,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,698,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Hershey in the fourth quarter worth $80,978,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Hershey by 66.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 972,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,571,000 after purchasing an additional 389,404 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Hershey by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,635,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $785,003,000 after purchasing an additional 247,675 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at about $21,439,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Hershey in the fourth quarter worth about $18,273,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HSY has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $178.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Bernstein Bank dropped their price target on shares of Hershey from $177.00 to $146.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $150.00 to $134.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $190.00 to $172.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Hershey from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $162.50.

Hershey Stock Up 0.9 %

HSY opened at $165.56 on Friday. The Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $140.13 and a fifty-two week high of $211.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market cap of $33.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.28. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $167.39 and its 200 day moving average is $171.29.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.29. Hershey had a return on equity of 44.77% and a net margin of 19.83%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.00, for a total transaction of $41,144.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $396,936. This represents a 9.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.