Retirement Systems of Alabama Decreases Stock Holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 154,534 shares of the company’s stock after selling 850 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.08% of Hershey worth $28,811,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Intellectus Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at about $718,000. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $938,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,039,000. Terril Brothers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,426,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 352.5% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,000 after purchasing an additional 832 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $187.00 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.97. The Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $178.82 and a 1-year high of $276.88. The company’s fifty day moving average is $191.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $190.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.34.

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

Hershey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HSY has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $213.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $191.00 to $183.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Hershey from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $212.78.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $296,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 40,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,961,121.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $296,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,228 shares in the company, valued at $7,961,121.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total transaction of $89,938.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $369,681.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,453 shares of company stock worth $665,534. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.