Friedenthal Financial Grows Stock Holdings in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Friedenthal Financial boosted its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 38,266.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,755 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,740 shares during the quarter. Friedenthal Financial’s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,047,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HSY. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in Hershey by 6.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,618,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Hershey by 20.2% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the second quarter valued at about $267,000. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 4.5% in the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 17,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,975,000 after purchasing an additional 769 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 5.4% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 22,247 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,692,000 after purchasing an additional 1,149 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HSY has been the topic of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, February 6th. DA Davidson set a $243.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, February 6th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $249.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Zacks Research downgraded Hershey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Hershey from $240.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hershey presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $224.56.

Hershey Stock Performance

NYSE HSY opened at $192.86 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $216.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $196.94. Hershey Company has a twelve month low of $150.04 and a twelve month high of $239.48. The company has a market capitalization of $39.09 billion, a PE ratio of 44.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 7.55% and a return on equity of 27.90%. Hershey’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.69 earnings per share. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.200-8.520 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $1.452 per share. This is an increase from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.37. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. Hershey’s payout ratio is 133.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, SVP Jason Reiman sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total transaction of $452,140.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 41,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,277,008.52. This trade represents a 4.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Rohit Grover sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total value of $791,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 34,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,814,787.76. This trade represents a 9.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 10,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,195,945 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Company Profile

The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is a leading North American chocolatier and snack manufacturer headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The company develops, produces and markets a wide range of confectionery and snack products for retail, foodservice and international customers. Hershey’s business spans manufacturing, branded product marketing, packaging and distribution across grocery, convenience, mass merchant and e-commerce channels.

Hershey’s product portfolio centers on chocolate and sugar confectionery, including core brands such as Hershey’s, Reese’s, Hershey’s Kisses and Twizzlers, alongside non-chocolate snacks and confectionery brands.