Hershey (NYSE:HSY) CFO Sells $291,150.00 in Stock

Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) CFO Steven Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.10, for a total transaction of $291,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 57,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,198,599.50. The trade was a 2.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Hershey Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE HSY traded down $2.62 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $188.83. The stock had a trading volume of 1,258,365 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,008,542. The company has a market capitalization of $38.27 billion, a PE ratio of 43.51, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $215.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $197.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $150.04 and a 12 month high of $239.48.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $3.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 7.55% and a return on equity of 27.90%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.69 earnings per share. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.200-8.520 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 8.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a dividend of $1.452 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This is an increase from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.37. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 133.87%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hershey

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. J2 Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Hershey by 3.2% during the first quarter. J2 Capital Management Inc now owns 2,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $524,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Hershey by 42.4% during the first quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,607 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 10.3% in the first quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 49,024 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,192,000 after buying an additional 4,560 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the first quarter worth about $1,580,000. Finally, TrueMark Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 40.0% in the first quarter. TrueMark Investments LLC now owns 42,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,863,000 after buying an additional 12,171 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HSY has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of Hershey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Hershey from $185.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson set a $243.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $224.94.

About Hershey

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.