Hershey Company (The) $HSY Shares Bought by Wedbush Securities Inc.

Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 17.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,349 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 795 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $888,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hershey during the second quarter worth $39,000. Whittier Trust Co. purchased a new position in Hershey in the first quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Hershey in the first quarter valued at $47,000. 57.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on HSY shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Hershey from $154.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Hershey from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $167.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Hershey from $155.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hershey presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $179.05.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $168.83 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $184.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.11. Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $140.13 and a 12 month high of $208.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.42, a PEG 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.11 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 13.54% and a return on equity of 37.36%. Hershey’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.34 EPS. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.900-6.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. Hershey’s payout ratio is 81.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.52, for a total transaction of $281,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 56,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,654,698.88. This represents a 2.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.