GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. Buys 4,630 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. grew its stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 11.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 45,545 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,630 shares during the period. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $7,558,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kennon Green & Company LLC boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. William Allan Corp boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Hershey during the first quarter valued at approximately $55,269,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Hershey from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Hershey from $171.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Hershey from $173.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hershey currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $175.89.

Hershey Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $192.19 on Friday. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $186.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.13. Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $140.13 and a 1 year high of $208.03. The stock has a market cap of $38.96 billion, a PE ratio of 25.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 0.26.

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

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were 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 was Friday, August 15th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.78%.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In related news, insider Rohit Grover sold 1,334 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $240,120.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 38,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,852,240. This trade represents a 3.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michele Buck sold 19,290 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.00, for a total transaction of $3,742,260.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 193,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,563,056. This represents a 9.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 65,704 shares of company stock worth $12,206,910. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company 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.