State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 615 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D trimmed its holdings in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,985 shares of the company’s stock after selling 615 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Hershey were worth $8,295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 2nd quarter valued at $242,000. Ground Swell Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 2nd quarter valued at $308,000. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Hershey by 1.9% during the second quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 14,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,471,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Guardian Asset Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Hershey by 3.0% during the second quarter. Guardian Asset Advisors LLC now owns 4,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $765,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Finally, Granite Harbor Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Hershey during the second quarter valued at about $210,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on HSY shares. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Hershey from $155.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Hershey from $171.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Hershey from $175.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Hershey from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $177.67.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $179.52 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $186.83 and a 200 day moving average of $175.65. Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $140.13 and a 12 month high of $208.03. The firm has a market cap of $36.39 billion, a PE ratio of 23.84, a PEG ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.26. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.23. Hershey had a return on equity of 37.36% and a net margin of 13.54%.The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.27 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.809-5.997 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.78%.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.52, for a total value of $281,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 56,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,654,698.88. This trade represents a 2.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michele Buck sold 19,290 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $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 a total of 22,290 shares of company stock valued at $4,307,220 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

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.