Park Avenue Securities LLC Purchases 647 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,293 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 647 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,066,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Hershey by 30,461.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 573,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,100,130,000 after purchasing an additional 571,766 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,029,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,348,127,000 after acquiring an additional 386,670 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Hershey by 31.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 586,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,491,000 after acquiring an additional 139,831 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Hershey by 2.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,387,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $841,476,000 after acquiring an additional 109,336 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Hershey from $165.00 to $159.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Hershey in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “sell” rating and a $165.00 target price for the company. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Hershey from $189.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Hershey from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $176.42.

Hershey Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $152.82 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $171.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $184.39. The Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $150.31 and a 1 year high of $211.92. The stock has a market cap of $30.92 billion, a PE ratio of 17.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.38.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.13%.

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.