Klingman & Associates LLC Boosts Stake in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Klingman & Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 2.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,665 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Klingman & Associates LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $608,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC lifted its position in Hershey by 5.2% in the 1st 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. boosted its stake in Hershey by 0.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Hershey by 0.9% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 7,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,179,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HSY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $187.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Hershey from $154.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $193.00 price objective on Hershey in a report on Thursday. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $176.21.

Hershey Trading Down 0.8%

HSY opened at $186.18 on Tuesday. Hershey Company has a one year low of $140.13 and a one year high of $208.03. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $175.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.73, a PEG ratio of 4.53 and a beta of 0.26.

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

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.12, for a total transaction of $283,680.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 58,319 shares in the company, valued at $11,029,289.28. The trade was a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 40,080 shares of company stock valued at $7,594,590 over the last 90 days. 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.