Hershey Company (The) $HSY Holdings Lifted by Savant Capital LLC

Savant Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 15.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,557 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,165 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,420,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HSY. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 6,721.3% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 819,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,150,000 after purchasing an additional 807,433 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 25.4% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,753,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $470,858,000 after purchasing an additional 557,056 shares during the period. Scharf Investments LLC purchased a new position in Hershey during the second quarter valued at approximately $90,588,000. Equity Investment Corp purchased a new position in Hershey during the second quarter valued at approximately $73,706,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Hershey by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,991,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $853,720,000 after buying an additional 356,249 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Hershey from $204.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Hershey from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Hershey from $154.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Hershey from $187.00 to $189.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $179.05.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.52, for a total value of $281,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 56,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,654,698.88. The trade was a 2.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hershey Price Performance

NYSE HSY opened at $178.39 on Thursday. Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $140.13 and a fifty-two week high of $208.03. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $184.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.19. The firm has a market cap of $36.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.24. Hershey had a return on equity of 37.36% and a net margin of 13.54%.The company had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.900-6.000 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.91%.

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.