Ninety One UK Ltd Purchases 3,247 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Ninety One UK Ltd purchased a new position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 3,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $512,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HSY. William Allan Corp increased its stake in Hershey by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. William Allan Corp now owns 19,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,123,000 after acquiring an additional 745 shares during the last quarter. Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. now owns 23,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,625,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 3rd quarter valued at about $594,000. Focus Financial Network Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 1,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 27.0% during the third quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 1,016 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $191.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $193.00 to $183.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $178.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Hershey from $210.00 to $198.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, DA Davidson set a $190.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, July 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $200.67.

Hershey Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of HSY stock opened at $168.70 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $173.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $181.27. Hershey Company has a 12-month low of $156.16 and a 12-month high of $239.48. The firm has a market cap of $33.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.10.

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

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were given a $1.4520 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 79.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

About Hershey

The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is a global confectionery and snack food company headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Founded by Milton S. Hershey in 1894, the company began as a chocolate manufacturer and has grown into one of the largest producers of confectionery products in North America.

Hershey’s portfolio includes chocolate, candy, gum, mints, protein bars and salty snacks. Its well-known brands include Hershey’s, Reese’s, Kisses, Kit Kat, Jolly Rancher, Twizzlers, Ice Breakers, SkinnyPop and Dot’s.