Boston Trust Walden Corp Increases Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 0.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 276,855 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,025 shares during the quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned approximately 0.14% of Hershey worth $53,095,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in shares of Hershey by 218.2% during the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 140 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Hershey by 55.0% in the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Hershey in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $230.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Hershey in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $185.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Hershey from $179.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Hershey from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $184.00 to $163.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Hershey from $204.00 to $202.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Hershey currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $191.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.17, for a total value of $107,153.46. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,238 shares in the company, valued at approximately $644,912.46. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of Hershey stock traded down $0.94 on Friday, reaching $181.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 751,604 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,132,154. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $36.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.14, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $192.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $192.72. The Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $178.82 and a 52-week high of $211.92.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.17). Hershey had a return on equity of 45.36% and a net margin of 16.76%. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.01 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 9.45 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.89%.

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.