Royal Bank of Canada Lowers Holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Royal Bank of Canada trimmed its position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,196,021 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,750 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Hershey were worth $371,895,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HSY. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 31.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,460,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,110,126,000 after purchasing an additional 2,980,997 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter worth $80,978,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,635,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $785,003,000 after purchasing an additional 247,675 shares in the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter worth $27,902,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,578,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,396,000 after purchasing an additional 154,238 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on HSY shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Hershey from $125.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $153.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Hershey from $150.00 to $134.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $170.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $161.40.

Hershey Trading Down 3.2%

Shares of HSY stock opened at $158.49 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $166.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.84. The Hershey Company has a twelve month low of $140.13 and a twelve month high of $209.65. The company has a market capitalization of $32.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.54, a PEG ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.15. Hershey had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 44.77%. The firm had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.07 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Hershey’s payout ratio is 67.57%.

Hershey Company 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.