Hartford Investment Management Co. Has $1.48 Million Holdings in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Hartford Investment Management Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 0.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,922 shares of the company’s stock after selling 66 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,481,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Old North State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 18.8% during the 2nd quarter. Old North State Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $765,000 after buying an additional 727 shares during the last quarter. Sylvest Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sylvest Advisors LLC now owns 5,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $882,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Guys Formula LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. Retirement Guys Formula LLC now owns 6,861 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,139,000 after buying an additional 797 shares during the last quarter. Significant Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Significant Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $623,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 61,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,966,000 after buying an additional 5,916 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $900,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 61,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,037,420. This trade represents a 7.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP James Turoff sold 1,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $227,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 25,321 shares in the company, valued at $4,431,175. This represents a 4.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 87,627 shares of company stock valued at $16,043,435 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on HSY shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Hershey in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $187.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Hershey from $154.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Hershey from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $170.00 to $222.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $174.05.

Hershey Stock Up 1.6%

Hershey stock opened at $188.26 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $38.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.00, a P/E/G ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Hershey Company has a twelve month low of $140.13 and a twelve month high of $208.03. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $184.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $172.53.

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

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.78%.

Hershey Company 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.