Yousif Capital Management LLC Sells 3,819 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Yousif Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 13.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 25,221 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,819 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $4,702,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in HSY. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 3,285.7% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 474 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 50.2% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 26,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,240,000 after acquiring an additional 8,758 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 25.1% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 88,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,609,000 after acquiring an additional 17,631 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HSY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Edward Jones reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, April 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $223.33.

Hershey Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of HSY opened at $186.23 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.34. The Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $178.82 and a 1 year high of $276.88. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $191.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $190.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.72 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 51.79% and a net margin of 16.67%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. This is an increase from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 60.55%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total transaction of $89,938.62. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s 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 owns 38,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,196,824.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total value of $89,938.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,453 shares of company stock valued at $665,534. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by 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.