Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC Sells 401 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 2.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,573 shares of the company’s stock after selling 401 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $2,679,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 14.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,341,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,372,965,000 after purchasing an additional 2,158,912 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 6.5% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,487,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,327,000 after purchasing an additional 90,329 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Hershey by 3.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 787,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,743,000 after acquiring an additional 25,780 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Hershey by 23.2% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 783,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,962,000 after acquiring an additional 147,215 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Hershey by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. now owns 781,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,715,000 after acquiring an additional 112,304 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HSY has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Hershey from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Citigroup lowered shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $195.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Hershey from $209.00 to $205.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of Hershey from $237.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $191.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $203.21.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $195.43 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $196.30 and a 200 day moving average of $194.07. The stock has a market cap of $39.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.37, a P/E/G ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 0.37. The Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $178.82 and a 12 month high of $211.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.17). Hershey had a net margin of 16.76% and a return on equity of 45.36%. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.01 EPS. Hershey’s revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 9.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.17, for a total value of $107,153.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $644,912.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.83, for a total value of $286,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 34,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,531,729.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.17, for a total transaction of $107,153.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $644,912.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,538 shares of company stock valued at $667,793 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.