Granite Harbor Advisors Inc. Invests $210,000 in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Granite Harbor Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. purchased a new stake in Hershey during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new stake in Hershey during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC grew its position in Hershey by 129.5% during the 1st quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Fort Vancouver Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hershey during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Hershey during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. 57.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Hershey from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Hershey from $154.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $155.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $175.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $176.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hershey news, CEO Michele Buck sold 19,290 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.00, for a total transaction of $3,742,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 22,290 shares of company stock valued at $4,307,220. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Price Performance

NYSE HSY opened at $184.08 on Thursday. Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $140.13 and a 12 month high of $208.03. The stock has a market cap of $37.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.45, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 0.26. The company’s 50 day moving average is $186.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.19. 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.23. Hershey had a net margin of 13.54% and a return on equity of 37.36%. The business had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.27 EPS. The company’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. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.78%.

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.