The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Shares Bought by Poehling Capital Management INC.

Poehling Capital Management INC. increased its holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 18,773 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,222 shares during the quarter. Poehling Capital Management INC.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $3,179,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $762,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A now owns 3,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $549,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 5,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $939,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 5,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $921,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on HSY shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Hershey from $184.00 to $148.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bernstein Bank reduced their target price on Hershey from $177.00 to $146.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Hershey from $173.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Hershey from $147.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Hershey from $183.00 to $177.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $161.40.

Hershey Trading Down 2.8%

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $151.37 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.89, a PEG ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.32. The Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $140.13 and a fifty-two week high of $208.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $165.38 and a 200 day moving average of $167.35.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.81 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 44.77% and a net margin of 19.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.07 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. Hershey’s payout ratio is 67.57%.

Hershey Company Profile

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.