BTS Asset Management Inc. Buys Shares of 2,521 Hershey Company (The) $HSY

BTS Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,521 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $418,000. Hershey comprises 0.5% of BTS Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. bought a new stake in Hershey in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 129.5% during the first quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Fort Vancouver Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the first quarter valued at about $35,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on HSY. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $187.00 to $189.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Hershey from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hershey currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $176.83.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.52, for a total value of $281,280.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 56,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,654,698.88. This trade represents a 2.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michele Buck sold 19,290 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.00, for a total value of $3,742,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 193,624 shares in the company, valued at $37,563,056. This represents a 9.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,290 shares of company stock worth $4,307,220 in the last three months. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hershey Price Performance

NYSE:HSY opened at $186.38 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $186.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.13. The firm has a market cap of $37.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.75, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 0.26. Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $140.13 and a 52-week high of $208.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 37.36% and a net margin of 13.54%.Hershey’s revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.27 earnings per share. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.809-5.997 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.78%.

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.