LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI Sells 690 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI reduced its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,625 shares of the company’s stock after selling 690 shares during the quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s holdings in Hershey were worth $3,091,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its stake in Hershey by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 2,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $460,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC increased its stake in Hershey by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 1,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $214,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. increased its stake in Hershey by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 7,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,229,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Hershey by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 7,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,179,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Hershey by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $473,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other Hershey news, SVP James Turoff sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $227,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 25,321 shares in the company, valued at $4,431,175. This represents a 4.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $900,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 61,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,037,420. The trade was a 7.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 86,127 shares of company stock worth $15,759,755. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on HSY shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Hershey from $135.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Hershey from $171.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Hershey in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $187.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $171.22.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of HSY stock opened at $184.95 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $37.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.56, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.53. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $180.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $171.70. Hershey Company has a 52 week low of $140.13 and a 52 week high of $208.03.

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

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 72.78%.

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.