Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. Reduces Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 34.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,530 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,327 shares during the quarter. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $428,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HSY. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in Hershey by 24.4% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 9,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,886,000 after purchasing an additional 1,927 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Hershey by 59.5% during the third quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $770,000 after purchasing an additional 1,498 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its position in Hershey by 130.1% during the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 965 shares during the period. CX Institutional lifted its position in Hershey by 4.7% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 7,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,427,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the period. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its position in shares of Hershey by 52.4% in the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 2,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $489,000 after acquiring an additional 877 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,682 shares in the company, valued at $396,936. This represents a 9.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on HSY shares. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $170.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $178.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $184.00 to $148.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $153.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $159.00 to $154.00 in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $165.05.

Hershey Stock Performance

Hershey stock opened at $158.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $163.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $180.11. The Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $140.13 and a 1-year high of $211.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $32.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.37.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.29. Hershey had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 44.77%. On average, analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 50.28%.

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.