SevenBridge Financial Group LLC Has $5.77 Million Stock Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

SevenBridge Financial Group LLC lessened its position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 11.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,440 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,701 shares during the quarter. Hershey makes up about 1.1% of SevenBridge Financial Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $5,767,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Hershey during the fourth quarter worth $208,000. OV Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. OV Management LLC now owns 8,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,480,000 after acquiring an additional 739 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,801,145 shares of the company’s stock valued at $642,139,000 after acquiring an additional 47,394 shares in the last quarter. Tradewinds LLC. bought a new stake in Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at about $285,000. Finally, Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in Hershey in the fourth quarter worth about $356,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on HSY shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Hershey from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. DA Davidson cut their price objective on Hershey from $164.00 to $149.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Bernstein Bank dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $177.00 to $146.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $190.00 to $172.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $153.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $162.50.

Hershey Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE HSY opened at $169.55 on Wednesday. The Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $140.13 and a 1 year high of $211.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.32 billion, a PE ratio of 15.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $164.71 and its 200-day moving average is $173.25.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.29. Hershey had a return on equity of 44.77% and a net margin of 19.83%. Equities analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,682 shares in the company, valued at $396,936. The trade was a 9.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.