Journey Advisory Group LLC Buys New Shares in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Journey Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its position in Hershey by 4.9% during the second quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 1,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its position in Hershey by 2.4% during the first quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 2,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $460,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC increased its position in Hershey by 5.2% during the first quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 1,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. increased its position in Hershey by 0.9% during the first quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 7,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,229,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Hershey by 0.9% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 7,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,179,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of HSY stock opened at $186.18 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market cap of $37.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.53 and a beta of 0.26. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.05. Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $140.13 and a 1 year high of $208.03.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 37.36% and a net margin of 13.54%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.27 earnings per share. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.809-5.997 EPS. On average, research 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. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Hershey’s payout ratio is 72.78%.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In related news, CEO Michele Buck sold 19,290 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 193,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,563,056. The trade was a 9.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.12, for a total value of $283,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 58,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,029,289.28. This trade represents a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 40,080 shares of company stock valued at $7,594,590. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on HSY shares. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Hershey from $155.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group upped their target price on Hershey from $192.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Hershey from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Hershey from $154.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Hershey from $160.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $176.21.

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.