Hershey Company (The) $HSY Shares Sold by Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. reduced its position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 29.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,448 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,819 shares during the quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $2,731,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 129.5% in the 1st quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Fort Vancouver Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HSY. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Hershey from $173.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Hershey from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Mizuho raised their target price on Hershey from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Hershey from $160.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $222.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $175.89.

Hershey Trading Up 0.2%

HSY opened at $189.64 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $38.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 0.26. Hershey Company has a 52 week low of $140.13 and a 52 week high of $208.03. The business’s 50 day moving average is $186.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

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. The company 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 firm’s revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter 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 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Hershey’s payout ratio is 72.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.