Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 209.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,861 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,969 shares during the quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,028,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Hershey by 48.4% during the second quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 10,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,813,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369 shares in the last quarter. Allegheny Financial Group raised its position in shares of Hershey by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Allegheny Financial Group now owns 8,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,434,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Hershey in the 2nd quarter valued at about $453,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Hershey by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 156,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,515,000 after buying an additional 18,952 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in Hershey by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 24,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,280,000 after buying an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $255,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 53,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,043,150. The trade was a 2.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HSY has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America reduced their target price on Hershey from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 25th. TD Cowen upgraded Hershey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings raised Hershey from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $190.00 price objective on Hershey in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $203.61.

Hershey Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE HSY opened at $185.97 on Friday. Hershey Company has a 52 week low of $161.43 and a 52 week high of $239.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $177.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $195.79. The firm has a market cap of $37.37 billion, a PE ratio of 25.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.11.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.47. Hershey had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 31.92%. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.360-8.520 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $1.452 per share. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.37%.

Hershey Profile

The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is a leading North American chocolatier and snack manufacturer headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The company develops, produces and markets a wide range of confectionery and snack products for retail, foodservice and international customers. Hershey’s business spans manufacturing, branded product marketing, packaging and distribution across grocery, convenience, mass merchant and e-commerce channels.

Hershey’s product portfolio centers on chocolate and sugar confectionery, including core brands such as Hershey’s, Reese’s, Hershey’s Kisses and Twizzlers, alongside non-chocolate snacks and confectionery brands.