Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. Buys 101 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. raised its stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 14.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 789 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $134,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HSY. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Hershey by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,029,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,348,127,000 after buying an additional 386,670 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Hershey by 2.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,387,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $841,476,000 after acquiring an additional 109,336 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,753,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,606,000 after acquiring an additional 35,688 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 66.7% during the third 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 during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 3.2% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 964,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $185,027,000 after purchasing an additional 29,507 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HSY has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on Hershey from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Piper Sandler lowered Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $153.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $150.00 to $134.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $169.79.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.00, for a total value of $41,144.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hershey Trading Down 2.0 %

Hershey stock opened at $144.78 on Wednesday. The Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $143.95 and a 12 month high of $211.92. The company has a market capitalization of $29.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $166.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $181.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.13%.

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.