Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec Makes New Investment in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec bought a new position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 146,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,672,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Hershey by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,618,000 after buying an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 20.2% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the 2nd quarter worth about $267,000. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 17,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,975,000 after buying an additional 769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Hershey by 5.4% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 22,247 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,692,000 after buying an additional 1,149 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $179.34 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $179.18 and a 200 day moving average of $194.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $36.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.11. Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $161.43 and a 12 month high of $239.48.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.47. Hershey had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 31.92%. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.360-8.520 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $1.452 per share. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 79.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $255,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 53,195 shares in the company, valued at $9,043,150. This represents a 2.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on HSY. DA Davidson set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Hershey from $212.00 to $206.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Hershey from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $201.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $191.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $204.78.

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.