Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Has $4.37 Million Stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 91.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,418 shares of the company’s stock after selling 256,371 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $4,366,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Hershey by 1.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,911,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,983,427,000 after buying an additional 222,960 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Hershey by 143.7% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,465,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,039,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453,819 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Hershey by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,779,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,052,000 after purchasing an additional 35,393 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Hershey by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,170,830 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,260,000 after purchasing an additional 8,344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Hershey by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 997,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,085,000 after purchasing an additional 21,229 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HSY has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Hershey from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Barclays raised their target price on Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $191.00 to $183.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. One equities 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $212.78.

Hershey Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of HSY opened at $197.92 on Monday. 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 company has a market cap of $40.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.62, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $191.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $190.76. The Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $178.82 and a 52-week high of $275.89.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 18.13% and a return on equity of 50.15%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.96 EPS. Analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total value of $278,745.00. Following the transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.