Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Reduces Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lowered its stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,105 shares of the company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec’s holdings in Hershey were worth $6,114,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in Hershey by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 8,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Hershey by 95.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 218,055 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,558,000 after buying an additional 106,450 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Hershey by 66.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 972,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,571,000 after buying an additional 389,404 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Hershey by 35.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $930,000 after buying an additional 1,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic lifted its stake in Hershey by 55.6% during the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 8,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,423,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on HSY shares. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Hershey from $173.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Hershey from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Hershey from $164.00 to $149.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Hershey from $147.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Bernstein Bank dropped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $177.00 to $146.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $160.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.00, for a total transaction of $41,144.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,682 shares in the company, valued at $396,936. This trade represents a 9.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hershey Stock Performance

NYSE HSY opened at $163.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $168.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $168.89. The company has a market cap of $33.01 billion, a PE ratio of 14.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.28. The Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $140.13 and a 1-year high of $211.92.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.81 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 44.77%. Hershey’s quarterly revenue was down 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.07 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.28%.

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.