Steven Voskuil Sells 1,500 Shares of Hershey (NYSE:HSY) Stock

Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) CFO Steven Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.52, for a total transaction of $281,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 56,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,654,698.88. This represents a 2.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HSY opened at $184.08 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $186.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.19. The stock has a market cap of $37.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.45, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 0.26. Hershey Company has a 52 week low of $140.13 and a 52 week 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.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 37.36% and a net margin of 13.54%.The business’s revenue was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.27 earnings per share. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.809-5.997 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were given a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.78%.

Institutional Trading of Hershey

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Hershey by 1.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,840,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,126,594,000 after purchasing an additional 210,131 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Hershey by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,116,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $849,123,000 after purchasing an additional 125,100 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Hershey by 2.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,567,373 shares of the company’s stock valued at $755,305,000 after buying an additional 126,519 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Hershey by 4.6% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,276,326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $543,712,000 after purchasing an additional 144,640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased 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 worth $470,858,000 after acquiring an additional 557,056 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on HSY. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Hershey from $175.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Hershey from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Hershey from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $222.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hershey currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $176.83.

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.