Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC Sells 326 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 2.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,247 shares of the company’s stock after selling 326 shares during the quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $2,732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 24.8% during the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 824 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 62.3% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 49,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,610,000 after acquiring an additional 18,968 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Hershey during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,820,000. Sendero Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Hershey during the first quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Finally, Grimes & Company Inc. increased its holdings in Hershey by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 31,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,204,000 after acquiring an additional 2,446 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 3,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $644,912.46. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on HSY. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target 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. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $179.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Hershey from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $184.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Citigroup lowered Hershey from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $192.80.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HSY opened at $182.20 on Friday. The Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $178.82 and a 1 year high of $211.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.06, a P/E/G ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 0.37. The company’s 50-day moving average is $193.04 and its 200 day moving average is $192.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.17). Hershey had a return on equity of 45.36% and a net margin of 16.76%. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.01 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Hershey’s payout ratio is 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.