Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC boosted its stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 3.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,760 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $3,611,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in Hershey in the first quarter valued at $36,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Hershey during the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Whittier Trust Co. bought a new stake in Hershey during the first quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the 1st quarter worth about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on HSY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Hershey from $187.00 to $189.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $155.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Hershey from $188.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $179.05.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.53. Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $140.13 and a 52-week high of $208.03. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $184.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.93, a P/E/G ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.24.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.11 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 13.54% and a return on equity of 37.36%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.34 EPS. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.900-6.000 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

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

Hershey Profile

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.