16,721 Shares in Hershey Company (The) $HSY Purchased by Vise Technologies Inc.

Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 16,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,934,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Hershey in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Reflection Asset Management acquired a new position in Hershey during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Hershey during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new stake in Hershey during the second quarter worth $26,000. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on HSY. DA Davidson set a $190.00 target price on Hershey in a report on Friday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Hershey from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Hershey from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Hershey from $212.00 to $206.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Evercore set a $225.00 target price on Hershey in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $204.78.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $186.27 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $178.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $195.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.11. Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $161.43 and a fifty-two week high of $239.48. 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 announced 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. Hershey had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 31.92%. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.360-8.520 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $1.452 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 79.23%.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $255,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 53,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,043,150. This represents a 2.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Hershey

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.