American Trust Sells 6,181 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

American Trust trimmed its holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 32.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,674 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,181 shares during the quarter. American Trust’s holdings in Hershey were worth $2,146,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HSY. Montag & Caldwell LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Hershey during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of HSY stock opened at $155.51 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $31.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.27, a P/E/G ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.32. The Hershey Company has a 52 week low of $140.13 and a 52 week high of $208.03. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $164.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $166.94.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.15. Hershey had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 44.77%. The company had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.07 EPS. Hershey’s quarterly revenue was down 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 67.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HSY. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Hershey from $178.00 to $175.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. 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. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $153.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Hershey from $173.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Bernstein Bank dropped their price target on shares of Hershey from $177.00 to $146.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $161.40.

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.