Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Sells 1,228 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. reduced its holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 17.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,922 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,228 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,013,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ethos Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Hershey by 59.8% in the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 3,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $671,000 after purchasing an additional 1,483 shares in the last quarter. DJE Kapital AG acquired a new stake in Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,040,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Hershey by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,635,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $785,003,000 after acquiring an additional 247,675 shares during the period. Global View Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $253,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,692,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 974 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.11, for a total transaction of $153,025.14. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $470,387.34. This represents a 24.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michele Buck sold 31,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.80, for a total value of $5,018,568.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 193,624 shares in the company, valued at $31,134,739.20. This represents a 13.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $169.06 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $34.25 billion, a PE ratio of 15.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $163.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $165.67. The Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $140.13 and a 1 year high of $208.03.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.81 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 44.77% and a net margin of 19.83%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.07 EPS. Analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on HSY. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Hershey from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on Hershey from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Hershey from $173.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Hershey from $125.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Hershey from $183.00 to $177.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $158.84.

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.