Lafayette Investments Inc. Cuts Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Lafayette Investments Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSYFree Report) by 1.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,748 shares of the company’s stock after selling 154 shares during the period. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,452,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH acquired a new position in Hershey during the second quarter worth $28,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Hershey by 129.5% during the first quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Fort Vancouver Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HSY has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Wall Street Zen raised Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded 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 report on Tuesday, September 16th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Hershey from $160.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Hershey from $175.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $176.21.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Hershey

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.12, for a total transaction of $283,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 58,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,029,289.28. This trade represents a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michele Buck sold 19,290 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.00, for a total value of $3,742,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 193,624 shares in the company, valued at $37,563,056. This represents a 9.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 40,080 shares of company stock valued at $7,594,590 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $186.18 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $186.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.05. The company has a market cap of $37.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.73, a PEG ratio of 4.53 and a beta of 0.26. 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 one year low of $140.13 and a one year high of $208.03.

Hershey (NYSE:HSYGet Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 37.36% and a net margin of 13.54%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.27 EPS. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.809-5.997 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

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

Hershey Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Read More

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding HSY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSYFree Report).

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Hershey (NYSE:HSY)

Receive News & Ratings for Hershey Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Hershey and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.