Signet Financial Management LLC Sells 4,753 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Signet Financial Management LLC cut its position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 37.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,106 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,753 shares during the quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,511,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in HSY. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the third quarter valued at $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. First Financial Corp IN purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its position in shares of Hershey by 121.3% in the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,961,121.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total value 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 approximately $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,961,121.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,518 shares of company stock valued at $1,066,414 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. 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. BNP Paribas cut Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley cut Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $191.00 to $183.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hershey currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $223.81.

Hershey Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE HSY opened at $183.32 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $193.10 and a 200-day moving average of $191.17. The firm has a market cap of $37.39 billion, a PE ratio of 20.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $178.82 and a 1-year high of $276.88.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 51.79% and a net margin of 16.67%. Hershey’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.55%.

About Hershey

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.