Ingalls & Snyder LLC Reduces Stake in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Ingalls & Snyder LLC lowered its stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,303 shares of the company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Ingalls & Snyder LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $382,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the second quarter valued at approximately $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 acquiring 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 approximately $34,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In related news, CEO Michele Buck sold 19,290 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 193,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,563,056. This represents a 9.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The shares were 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 directly owned 56,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,654,698.88. The trade was a 2.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 22,290 shares of company stock worth $4,307,220. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hershey Price Performance

NYSE HSY opened at $179.52 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $186.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.65. Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $140.13 and a 1 year high of $208.03. The company has a market cap of $36.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.84, a PEG ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.26.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.27 EPS. The firm’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, equities research 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. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were given a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HSY has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $222.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $193.00 target price on Hershey in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays upped 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hershey has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $177.67.

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.