Hershey Company (The) $HSY Stock Sold by Toth Financial Advisory Corp

Toth Financial Advisory Corp cut its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 25.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,267 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,245 shares during the quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp’s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HSY. Venture Visionary Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 4,871 shares of the company’s stock worth $768,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Investors Research Corp purchased a new position in Hershey in the third quarter valued at $445,000. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Hershey by 1.0% in the third quarter. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 30,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,814,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its stake in Hershey by 75.9% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CapWealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Hershey by 0.8% in the third quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC now owns 57,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,023,000 after buying an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Steven Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 53,195 shares in the company, 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 the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on HSY. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Hershey from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Hershey from $249.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Hershey from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Hershey from $215.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $203.67.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of HSY traded up $2.37 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $162.71. 314,449 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,854,887. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $174.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $183.36. 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 twelve month low of $156.16 and a twelve month high of $239.48. The company has a market capitalization of $32.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.27, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.10.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.47. The business 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%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 EPS. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.360-8.520 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a $1.4520 dividend. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.37%.

Hershey Profile

The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is a global confectionery and snack food company headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Founded by Milton S. Hershey in 1894, the company began as a chocolate manufacturer and has grown into one of the largest producers of confectionery products in North America.

Hershey’s portfolio includes chocolate, candy, gum, mints, protein bars and salty snacks. Its well-known brands include Hershey’s, Reese’s, Kisses, Kit Kat, Jolly Rancher, Twizzlers, Ice Breakers, SkinnyPop and Dot’s.