Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 40,504 shares of the company’s stock after selling 843 shares during the period. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $6,722,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of HSY. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 6,721.3% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 819,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,150,000 after purchasing an additional 807,433 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 25.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,753,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,858,000 after purchasing an additional 557,056 shares in the last quarter. Scharf Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the second quarter valued at about $90,588,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 7.7% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,991,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $853,720,000 after purchasing an additional 356,249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 40.4% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,237,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,227,000 after purchasing an additional 356,105 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Price Performance

HSY opened at $186.38 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $186.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.13. The firm has a market cap of $37.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.75, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 0.26. Hershey Company has a twelve month low of $140.13 and a twelve month high of $208.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

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

Hershey Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $193.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $176.83.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other news, CEO Michele Buck sold 19,290 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.00, for a total value of $3,742,260.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 193,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,563,056. This trade represents a 9.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.52, for a total transaction of $281,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 56,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,654,698.88. This trade represents a 2.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,290 shares of company stock worth $4,307,220 over the last 90 days. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hershey Profile

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.