Railway Pension Investments Ltd Sells 22,600 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Railway Pension Investments Ltd lessened its holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 9.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 226,663 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,600 shares during the quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd owned 0.11% of Hershey worth $44,086,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Alliance raised its position in Hershey by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. AJOVista LLC bought a new position in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter worth approximately $153,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its stake in Hershey by 1,263.3% in the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 15,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,816,000 after buying an additional 13,997 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC bought a new stake in Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at $2,332,000. Finally, Reliant Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Hershey during the fourth quarter worth $4,173,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HSY has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Hershey from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Hershey from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Hershey from $209.00 to $205.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Barclays cut their price objective on Hershey from $210.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $179.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, June 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $204.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.93, for a total value of $274,395.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 35,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,535,723.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,500 shares of company stock valued at $867,450. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hershey Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Hershey stock traded down $0.54 during trading on Friday, reaching $199.08. 2,235,769 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,718,185. The Hershey Company has a twelve month low of $178.82 and a twelve month high of $233.21. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $189.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $192.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72, a P/E/G ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 0.36.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 16.76% and a return on equity of 45.36%. The business’s revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.01 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 9.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.31%.

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.