Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Sells 110,276 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. reduced its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 39.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 168,109 shares of the company’s stock after selling 110,276 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $26,496,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hamel Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Hershey by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hamel Associates Inc. now owns 23,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,724,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its position in Hershey by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 14,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,247,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the period. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd increased its position in Hershey by 61.6% during the 3rd quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 50,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,996,000 after purchasing an additional 19,330 shares during the period. Money Concepts Capital Corp raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 2,561 shares of the company’s stock worth $404,000 after buying an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 7,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,178,000 after buying an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Hershey from $215.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Hershey from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 30th. DA Davidson set a $170.00 target price on Hershey in a report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $194.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $193.81.

Hershey Price Performance

HSY traded up $0.83 on Friday, hitting $174.12. 1,480,007 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,012,301. Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $156.16 and a fifty-two week high of $239.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.08. The business’s fifty day moving average is $168.17 and its 200 day moving average is $187.96.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $2.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.53. Hershey had a net margin of 14.63% and a return on equity of 37.12%. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.30 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 8.63 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 16th will be issued a $1.4520 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.72%.

Hershey Profile

The Hershey Company is a global confectionery company best known for its chocolate and candy products. Milton S. Hershey established the Hershey Chocolate Company in 1894, and the company is headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Its portfolio includes chocolate bars, packaged candy, gum, mints and other snacks. Well-known brands include Hershey’s, Reese’s, Kisses, Jolly Rancher and Ice Breakers; the company also sells salty snacks under brands such as SkinnyPop and Dot’s Pretzels. Hershey sells its products primarily in North America and also serves consumers in international markets through its operations and distribution partners.