Lake Street Advisors Group LLC Trims Stock Holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Lake Street Advisors Group LLC trimmed its holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,828 shares of the company’s stock after selling 161 shares during the quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $310,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HSY. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Hershey by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Hershey by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,583,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co grew its position in shares of Hershey by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 5,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $988,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of Hershey by 86.4% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 12,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,200,000 after purchasing an additional 6,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at $1,692,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hershey Stock Performance

NYSE HSY opened at $172.68 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $160.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $177.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The Hershey Company has a 12-month low of $140.13 and a 12-month high of $211.92. The firm has a market cap of $34.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.84, a PEG ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.37.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.29. Hershey had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 44.77%. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on HSY. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $190.00 to $172.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $164.00 to $149.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $153.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Hershey from $150.00 to $134.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hershey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.15.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.00, for a total transaction of $41,144.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,682 shares in the company, valued at approximately $396,936. This represents a 9.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.