Freedom Investment Management Inc. Sells 496 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Freedom Investment Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,228 shares of the company’s stock after selling 496 shares during the quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $536,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its position in shares of Hershey by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 1,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its position in shares of Hershey by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 2,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $460,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC increased its position in shares of Hershey by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 1,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Hershey by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 7,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,229,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Hershey by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 7,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,179,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HSY has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Hershey from $192.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Saturday. Bank of America raised their price target on Hershey from $175.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Hershey from $160.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Hershey from $154.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $177.67.

Hershey Trading Down 1.1%

NYSE HSY opened at $179.52 on Friday. Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $140.13 and a fifty-two week high of $208.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.53. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $175.58. The stock has a market cap of $36.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.26.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released 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 return on equity of 37.36% and a net margin of 13.54%.The business had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.27 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.809-5.997 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.52, for a total value of $281,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 56,819 shares in the company, valued at $10,654,698.88. This trade represents a 2.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michele Buck sold 19,290 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 193,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,563,056. The trade was a 9.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 22,290 shares of company stock valued at $4,307,220. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hershey Company 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.