LaFleur & Godfrey LLC Lowers Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

LaFleur & Godfrey LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 47.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,667 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,299 shares during the quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $4,053,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,618,000 after buying an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in Hershey in the second quarter worth $224,000. Ethic Inc. increased its stake in Hershey by 3.6% in the second quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 7,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,299,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Hershey during the second quarter valued at about $242,000. Finally, AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs raised its position in Hershey by 9.7% during the second quarter. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs now owns 6,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after purchasing an additional 602 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.66, for a total transaction of $329,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 50,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,162,901.54. This represents a 2.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 4,500 shares of company stock worth $910,260 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Performance

NYSE:HSY opened at $221.48 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.19. Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $150.04 and a fifty-two week high of $234.87. The firm has a market cap of $44.91 billion, a PE ratio of 51.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.18. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $198.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $188.55.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.31. Hershey had a net margin of 7.55% and a return on equity of 27.90%. The company had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.200-8.520 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.452 per share. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 133.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HSY has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hershey from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $218.74.

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.