Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys Shares of 363,353 Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 363,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,751,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.18% of Hershey at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HSY. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Hershey by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,067,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,469,855,000 after acquiring an additional 191,671 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Hershey by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 9,106,431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,657,189,000 after acquiring an additional 169,660 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Hershey by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,253,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,356,681,000 after purchasing an additional 128,982 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Hershey by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,315,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $967,343,000 after purchasing an additional 124,464 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Hershey by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,831,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $876,434,000 after purchasing an additional 104,024 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on HSY shares. Evercore set a $225.00 price objective on Hershey in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Hershey from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Barclays cut their target price on Hershey from $208.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Hershey from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $201.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $203.61.

Hershey Trading Up 3.0%

Shares of HSY stock opened at $189.04 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.98 billion, a PE ratio of 25.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.11. Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $161.43 and a 1-year high of $239.48. The business has a 50-day moving average of $178.15 and a 200 day moving average of $195.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 31.92% and a net margin of 12.24%.Hershey’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.360-8.520 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a $1.452 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 79.37%.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $255,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 53,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,043,150. This represents a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.