Hamel Associates Inc. Sells 160 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Hamel Associates Inc. trimmed its position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 17,103 shares of the company’s stock after selling 160 shares during the period. Hamel Associates Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $3,280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HSY. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 14.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,341,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,372,965,000 after purchasing an additional 2,158,912 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Hershey by 6.5% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,487,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,327,000 after buying an additional 90,329 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 972,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,571,000 after buying an additional 389,404 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Hershey by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 787,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,743,000 after buying an additional 25,780 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 23.2% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 783,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,962,000 after acquiring an additional 147,215 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group lowered shares of Hershey from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $226.00 to $209.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Argus cut Hershey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Hershey from $191.00 to $199.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Hershey from $163.00 to $161.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $189.33.

Hershey Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $181.50 on Wednesday. The Hershey Company has a twelve month low of $171.67 and a twelve month high of $211.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The company’s 50 day moving average is $188.88 and its 200 day moving average is $192.13. The company has a market cap of $36.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 0.38.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. Hershey’s payout ratio is 63.13%.

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.