Handelsbanken Fonder AB Boosts Stock Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 20.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 87,339 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,836 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Hershey were worth $15,324,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HSY. Syon Capital LLC increased its stake in Hershey by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 3,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $550,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Haverford Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 6,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,237,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $466,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 8,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,462,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,325 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on HSY shares. Mizuho dropped their target price on Hershey from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Evercore set a $225.00 price target on Hershey in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Hershey from $249.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Hershey from $215.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Hershey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $203.61.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HSY opened at $185.97 on Friday. Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $161.43 and a 12 month high of $239.48. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $177.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $195.79. The company has a market cap of $37.37 billion, a PE ratio of 25.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.47. Hershey had a return on equity of 31.92% and a net margin of 12.24%.The company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 billion. During the same quarter 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. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $1.452 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.37%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 20th. The shares were 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 directly owned 53,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,043,150. The trade was a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hershey 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.