Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 28,867 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 16,495.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29,042 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,867 shares during the quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $4,820,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its holdings in Hershey by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 1,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 12.3% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Optivise Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 5.1% in the second quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Hershey by 0.9% in the first quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 7,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,229,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, RKL Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Hershey by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,155,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Up 0.9%

Hershey stock opened at $188.39 on Thursday. Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $140.13 and a 1-year high of $208.03. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $183.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $177.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.02, a PEG ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.24.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.34 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.900-6.000 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on HSY. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Hershey from $167.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Hershey from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Hershey from $155.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hershey currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $179.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.56, for a total value of $269,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 55,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,933,079.64. This trade represents a 2.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kirk Tanner acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were bought at an average price of $185.46 per share, with a total value of $370,920.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 47,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,876,115.60. This trade represents a 4.36% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 6,000 shares of company stock worth $1,103,640. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.