Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors Purchases 395 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors boosted its position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 23.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,078 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors’ holdings in Hershey were worth $387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. Norges Bank bought a new position in Hershey in the fourth quarter worth $411,828,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Hershey by 143.7% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,465,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,039,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453,819 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Hershey by 2,693.0% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,094,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,156,000 after purchasing an additional 1,055,559 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Hershey by 57.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,648,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $613,352,000 after purchasing an additional 964,019 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,378,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $319,202,000 after acquiring an additional 369,940 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $182.53 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.17, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.34. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $193.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $191.29. The Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $178.82 and a 52-week high of $276.88.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 period last year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business 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 boost from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 60.55%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Charles R. Raup sold 2,065 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.85, for a total transaction of $396,170.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,833,624.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Charles R. Raup sold 2,065 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.85, for a total transaction of $396,170.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,833,624.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.97, for a total value of $283,455.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,816 shares in the company, valued at $5,634,329.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,518 shares of company stock valued at $1,066,414 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HSY has been the subject of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas downgraded Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays raised their price target on Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $191.00 to $183.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $223.81.

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.