CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Sells 12,619 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lowered its stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 157,550 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,619 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned about 0.08% of Hershey worth $26,668,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of HSY. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Hershey by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 972,836 shares of the company's stock valued at $186,571,000 after purchasing an additional 389,404 shares in the last quarter. Woodstock Corp raised its holdings in Hershey by 34.8% in the fourth quarter. Woodstock Corp now owns 6,896 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,168,000 after acquiring an additional 1,780 shares in the last quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at $1,939,000. Ethos Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Hershey by 59.8% during the 4th quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 3,962 shares of the company's stock worth $671,000 after acquiring an additional 1,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic increased its position in shares of Hershey by 55.6% in the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 8,400 shares of the company's stock worth $1,423,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on HSY shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Hershey from $183.00 to $177.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Hershey from $164.00 to $149.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $190.00 to $172.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Hershey from $159.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut Hershey from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $153.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $163.35.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.00, for a total value of $41,144.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,682 shares of the company's stock, valued at $396,936. This trade represents a 9.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hershey Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of HSY traded up $0.93 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $167.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,002,430 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,787,136. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $33.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.36, a P/E/G ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a 50 day moving average of $169.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $170.08. The Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $140.13 and a 1-year high of $211.92.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.29. Hershey had a return on equity of 44.77% and a net margin of 19.83%. As a group, research analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were given a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. 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.