Hershey Company (The) $HSY Stock Holdings Increased by Good Life Advisors LLC

Good Life Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 53.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,334 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,868 shares during the period. Good Life Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $885,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,991,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $853,720,000 after acquiring an additional 356,249 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Hershey by 2.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,567,373 shares of the company’s stock valued at $755,305,000 after purchasing an additional 126,519 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Hershey by 25.4% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,753,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,858,000 after purchasing an additional 557,056 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Hershey by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,590,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,092,000 after purchasing an additional 11,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its position in Hershey by 40.4% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,237,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,227,000 after purchasing an additional 356,105 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.52, for a total transaction of $281,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 56,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,654,698.88. This represents a 2.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HSY has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Hershey from $154.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Hershey from $155.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. 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 report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hershey currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $179.05.

Hershey Stock Up 0.1%

HSY stock opened at $178.47 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a 50-day moving average of $184.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.21. Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $140.13 and a 52-week high of $208.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 37.36% and a net margin of 13.54%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.34 EPS. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.900-6.000 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 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.