The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Shares Sold by Zions Bancorporation N.A.

Zions Bancorporation N.A. lessened its position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 37.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,578 shares of the company’s stock after selling 957 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $290,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Hershey by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 730,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,142,000 after acquiring an additional 64,238 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC increased its position in Hershey by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 21,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,062,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Hershey by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 35,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,608,000 after buying an additional 8,767 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its position in Hershey by 62.4% during the fourth quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 2,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $481,000 after buying an additional 992 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Hershey during the fourth quarter worth approximately $349,448,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE:HSY opened at $200.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $40.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 0.37. The Hershey Company has a one year low of $178.82 and a one year high of $213.85. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $195.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $193.69.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 45.36% and a net margin of 16.76%. Hershey’s revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.01 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 9.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.31%.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.17, for a total value of $107,153.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,238 shares in the company, valued at $644,912.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.17, for a total value of $107,153.46. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $644,912.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.83, for a total value of $286,245.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 34,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,531,729.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,538 shares of company stock valued at $667,793 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on HSY shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of Hershey from $237.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Hershey from $191.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Barclays lowered their target price on Hershey from $210.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Hershey from $183.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Hershey from $209.00 to $205.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hershey currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $203.21.

Hershey 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.