The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Shares Acquired by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 19,349 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,222 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $3,277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HSY. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Grove Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Hershey by 248.0% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Hershey by 61.7% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 262 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.00, for a total transaction of $41,144.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $396,936. This represents a 9.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on HSY shares. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Hershey from $164.00 to $149.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Hershey from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $190.00 to $172.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $178.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup raised Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $159.00 to $154.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.15.

Hershey Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of HSY opened at $171.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $140.13 and a 1-year high of $211.92. The stock has a market cap of $34.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.32. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $162.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.14.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.29. Hershey had a return on equity of 44.77% and a net margin of 19.83%. Equities analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.28%.

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.