Short Interest in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Declines By 5.7%

The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 7,470,000 shares, a drop of 5.7% from the November 15th total of 7,920,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,840,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HSY has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group lowered shares of Hershey from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $226.00 to $209.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $183.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Hershey from $163.00 to $161.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Hershey from $202.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Hershey currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $185.17.

Hershey Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of HSY stock opened at $172.46 on Thursday. Hershey has a twelve month low of $168.16 and a twelve month high of $211.92. The stock has a market cap of $34.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.87, a PEG ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.37. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $179.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $187.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.13%.

Institutional Trading of Hershey

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Hershey by 55.0% in the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY now owns 7,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,411,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $484,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. now owns 4,067 shares of the company’s stock worth $748,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in Hershey by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

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.