Osmosis Investment Management UK Ltd Acquires New Shares in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Osmosis Investment Management UK Ltd purchased a new stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 12,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,230,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,067,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,469,855,000 after purchasing an additional 191,671 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hershey in the second quarter valued at about $2,303,889,000. Capital International Investors grew its position in Hershey by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 9,106,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,657,189,000 after buying an additional 169,660 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Hershey by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,253,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,356,681,000 after acquiring an additional 128,982 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Hershey by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,315,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $967,343,000 after acquiring an additional 124,464 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

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 transaction of $255,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 53,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,043,150. The trade was a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on HSY. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $201.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $208.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. TD Cowen raised shares of Hershey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Hershey from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Hershey from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $204.78.

Hershey Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of HSY opened at $189.92 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $38.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.95, a PEG ratio of 1.14 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 Company has a one year low of $161.43 and a one year high of $239.48. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $178.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $195.40.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.47. Hershey had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 31.92%. The firm 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 firm earned $1.21 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.360-8.520 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $1.452 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.23%.

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.