Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. Has $1.22 Million Stock Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,182 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of Hershey in the third quarter valued at about $1,337,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Hershey by 66.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 972,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,571,000 after acquiring an additional 389,404 shares in the last quarter. Woodstock Corp grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 34.8% during the 4th quarter. Woodstock Corp now owns 6,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,168,000 after purchasing an additional 1,780 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 61.9% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 120,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,052,000 after purchasing an additional 45,936 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic increased its position in shares of Hershey by 55.6% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 8,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,423,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on HSY shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $150.00 to $134.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $153.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Hershey from $189.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $178.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Hershey from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $167.10.

Hershey Stock Performance

HSY stock opened at $145.96 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $165.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $181.22. The Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $140.13 and a fifty-two week high of $211.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.53 billion, a PE ratio of 16.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.38.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.29. Hershey had a return on equity of 43.24% and a net margin of 16.17%. Analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 9.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.00, for a total value of $41,144.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $396,936. This represents a 9.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.