Donald L. Hagan LLC Takes Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Donald L. Hagan LLC bought a new stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 7,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,245,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in HSY. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 2.6% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $473,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 3.3% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 329,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,407,000 after purchasing an additional 10,656 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 5.9% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 33,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,899 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 113,833.3% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 3,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $584,000 after purchasing an additional 3,415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 51.6% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 27,844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,762,000 after purchasing an additional 9,475 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other news, insider Rohit Grover sold 1,334 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $240,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,068 shares in the company, valued at $6,852,240. This trade represents a 3.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michele Buck sold 19,290 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $3,472,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 193,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,852,320. This represents a 9.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 65,704 shares of company stock worth $12,206,910 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Hershey in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $187.00 price target for the company. DA Davidson increased their price target on Hershey from $171.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Bank of America increased their price target on Hershey from $175.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Hershey from $160.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Hershey from $173.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $174.05.

Hershey Price Performance

HSY stock opened at $187.08 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $185.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $172.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market cap of $37.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.27. Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $140.13 and a 52-week high of $208.03.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.21 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.27 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly 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 Announces Dividend

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