VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Purchases New Shares in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 50,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,895,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HSY. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 17,582.2% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 43,248,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,587,905,000 after buying an additional 43,003,663 shares during the period. VELA Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Hershey in the 2nd quarter valued at about $314,000. Paralel Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Hershey during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,951,000. Varenne Capital Partners acquired a new stake in Hershey during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $22,283,000. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $682,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Steven Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 53,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,043,150. The trade was a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of HSY stock opened at $173.25 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $178.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $191.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.81 billion, a PE ratio of 23.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.11. 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 Company has a 1-year low of $161.43 and a 1-year high of $239.48.

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

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $1.452 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho cut their price target on Hershey from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $212.00 to $206.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Hershey from $215.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Evercore set a $225.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson set a $190.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, July 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $204.78.

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.