Signaturefd LLC Has $492,000 Holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Signaturefd LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 12.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,640 shares of the company’s stock after selling 388 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $492,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of HSY. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Hershey in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in shares of Hershey in the third quarter valued at $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. First Financial Corp IN acquired a new position in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Highlander Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 125.3% in the fourth quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Hershey from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley cut Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $191.00 to $183.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $213.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $223.33.

Hershey Price Performance

Hershey stock opened at $188.14 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $191.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $190.73. The stock has a market cap of $38.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.34. The Hershey Company has a 12-month low of $178.82 and a 12-month high of $276.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. Hershey had a return on equity of 51.79% and a net margin of 16.67%. The business had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $1.37 dividend. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total value of $89,938.62. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $369,681.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total value of $89,938.62. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $369,681.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total value of $278,745.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,196,824.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,453 shares of company stock valued at $665,534. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.