Hershey Company (The) $HSY Shares Sold by Boston Trust Walden Corp

Boston Trust Walden Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 25.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 92,067 shares of the company’s stock after selling 31,120 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp’s holdings in Hershey were worth $15,279,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kennon Green & Company LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 33.3% during the first quarter. Kennon Green & Company LLC now owns 43,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,379,000 after purchasing an additional 10,784 shares during the period. William Allan Corp increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 173.1% during the first quarter. William Allan Corp now owns 18,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,180,000 after purchasing an additional 11,785 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 9.5% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 31,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,460,000 after purchasing an additional 2,757 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 8.1% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 18,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,186,000 after purchasing an additional 1,390 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hershey during the first quarter valued at $55,269,000. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, CEO Michele Buck sold 19,290 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.00, for a total transaction of $3,742,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 193,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,563,056. This trade represents a 9.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.12, for a total value of $283,680.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 58,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,029,289.28. The trade was a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 65,704 shares of company stock worth $12,206,910. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HSY. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Hershey from $155.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Barclays raised their target price on Hershey from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. BNP Paribas Exane raised Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Hershey from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $175.89.

Hershey Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:HSY opened at $189.64 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $140.13 and a 1-year high of $208.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 0.26. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $186.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.40.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.23. Hershey had a return on equity of 37.36% and a net margin of 13.54%.The business had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.27 EPS. Hershey’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.809-5.997 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.78%.

Hershey Company 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.