B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Decreases Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,184 shares of the company’s stock after selling 645 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $419,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 95.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 218,055 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,558,000 after acquiring an additional 106,450 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in Hershey by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 8,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in Hershey by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 116,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,329,000 after purchasing an additional 2,391 shares in the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 2.8% in the third quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 5,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,093,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 3.1% in the third quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 8,249 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,582,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hershey Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of HSY opened at $168.94 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $34.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.46, a PEG ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.37. The Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $168.16 and a 12 month high of $211.92. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $178.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $187.82. 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 63.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup downgraded Hershey from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their target price for the company from $195.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $230.00 to $205.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group downgraded Hershey from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $226.00 to $209.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $183.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $188.00 to $180.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hershey presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $185.17.

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.