Hershey Company (The) $HSY Shares Bought by Tobam

Tobam boosted its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 11.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 43,312 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,422 shares during the period. Hershey accounts for 2.8% of Tobam’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Tobam’s holdings in Hershey were worth $7,188,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 6,721.3% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 819,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $140,150,000 after acquiring an additional 807,433 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 25.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,753,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,858,000 after purchasing an additional 557,056 shares during the period. Scharf Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Hershey during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $90,588,000. Equity Investment Corp purchased a new position in Hershey in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $73,706,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Hershey by 7.7% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,991,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $853,720,000 after acquiring an additional 356,249 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other Hershey 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 56,819 shares in the company, valued at $10,654,698.88. This trade represents a 2.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hershey Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $172.70 on Wednesday. Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $140.13 and a 1 year high of $208.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $35.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.93, a P/E/G ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $184.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.18.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.11 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 37.36% and a net margin of 13.54%.The business’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.34 earnings per share. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.900-6.000 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 81.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on HSY shares. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Hershey from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Piper Sandler raised Hershey from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $167.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Hershey from $187.00 to $189.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Hershey from $154.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hershey presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $179.05.

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.