Hershey Company (The) $HSY Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its holdings in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,000,046 shares of the company’s stock after selling 66,216 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.49% of Hershey worth $165,958,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in Hershey by 13.0% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 12,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,161,000 after buying an additional 1,455 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 7.1% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 76,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,065,000 after acquiring an additional 5,041 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Hershey by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 13,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,350,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd boosted its stake in Hershey by 22.9% in the 1st quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 70,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,931,000 after purchasing an additional 13,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Applied Finance Capital Management LLC grew its position in Hershey by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 5,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $873,000 after purchasing an additional 963 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.56, for a total transaction of $269,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 55,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,933,079.64. The trade was a 2.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 6,000 shares of company stock worth $1,103,640. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HSY. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Hershey from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Hershey from $154.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Hershey from $167.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley reiterated a “mixed” rating and set a $184.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $179.74.

Hershey Price Performance

NYSE:HSY opened at $186.24 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $183.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.01. The firm has a market cap of $37.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.73, a PEG ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.53. Hershey Company has a one year low of $140.13 and a one year high of $208.03.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.24. Hershey had a return on equity of 37.36% and a net margin of 13.54%.The business had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.34 EPS. The company’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. Research analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.91%.

About Hershey

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.