Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas Has $19.50 Million Holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas decreased its stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 9.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 115,132 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,688 shares during the quarter. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas’ holdings in Hershey were worth $19,498,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in shares of Hershey during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,337,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Hershey by 66.7% in the third 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. Woodstock Corp lifted its stake in Hershey by 34.8% in the fourth quarter. Woodstock Corp now owns 6,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,168,000 after buying an additional 1,780 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 61.9% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 120,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,052,000 after buying an additional 45,936 shares during the period. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic increased its position in shares of Hershey by 55.6% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 8,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,423,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $150.54 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $169.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $183.26. The company has a market capitalization of $30.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.34, a PEG ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 0.38. 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 Hershey Company has a 12-month low of $147.60 and a 12-month high of $211.92.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HSY. Barclays reduced their price objective on Hershey from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $183.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Hershey from $184.00 to $148.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Hershey from $180.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.79.

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.