Coston McIsaac & Partners Sells 2,896 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Coston McIsaac & Partners cut its holdings in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 14.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 16,916 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,896 shares during the period. Coston McIsaac & Partners’ holdings in Hershey were worth $3,077,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Hershey during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hershey in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Close Asset Management Ltd raised its position in Hershey by 339.3% in the third quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 246 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HSY has been the subject of several recent research reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of Hershey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen raised shares of Hershey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $249.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $218.33.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of HSY stock opened at $187.15 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $207.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $196.73. The stock has a market cap of $37.93 billion, a PE ratio of 34.85, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.07. Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $150.04 and a 52-week high of $239.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.31. Hershey had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 28.98%. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a $1.452 dividend. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 108.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.10, for a total transaction of $291,150.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 57,695 shares in the company, valued at $11,198,599.50. The trade was a 2.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Jason Reiman sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total transaction of $452,140.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 41,036 shares in the company, valued at $9,277,008.52. This represents a 4.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 10,000 shares of company stock worth $2,189,090. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

About Hershey

The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is a leading North American chocolatier and snack manufacturer headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The company develops, produces and markets a wide range of confectionery and snack products for retail, foodservice and international customers. Hershey’s business spans manufacturing, branded product marketing, packaging and distribution across grocery, convenience, mass merchant and e-commerce channels.

Hershey’s product portfolio centers on chocolate and sugar confectionery, including core brands such as Hershey’s, Reese’s, Hershey’s Kisses and Twizzlers, alongside non-chocolate snacks and confectionery brands.