Mutual Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Mutual Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 25.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,302 shares of the company’s stock after selling 781 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 11.1% in the second quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 2,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 11.3% in the second quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 5,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $862,000 after buying an additional 528 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 8.0% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $987,000 after buying an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 21.0% in the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 6,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,089,000 after buying an additional 1,139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 20.1% in the second quarter. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. now owns 12,735 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,113,000 after buying an additional 2,127 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hershey Price Performance

Hershey stock opened at $186.18 on Tuesday. Hershey Company has a 12-month low of $140.13 and a 12-month high of $208.03. The stock has a market cap of $37.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.73, a PEG ratio of 4.53 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $186.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $175.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

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

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business 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 was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Hershey from $160.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Hershey from $187.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $176.21.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CEO Michele Buck sold 19,290 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.00, for a total transaction 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 $37,563,056. This trade represents a 9.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.12, for a total transaction of $283,680.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 58,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,029,289.28. This 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 have sold 40,080 shares of company stock valued at $7,594,590. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.