Bank of Montreal Can Sells 9,426 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Bank of Montreal Can trimmed its holdings in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 189,148 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,426 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Hershey were worth $31,389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. William Allan Corp increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 173.1% in the first quarter. William Allan Corp now owns 18,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,180,000 after purchasing an additional 11,785 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the 2nd quarter valued at $224,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Hershey in the 1st quarter worth $55,269,000. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Hershey by 39.7% in the 1st quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,857,000 after buying an additional 3,087 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Hershey by 21.5% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 710,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,477,000 after acquiring an additional 125,509 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HSY. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Hershey from $155.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler upgraded Hershey from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $167.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $187.00 to $189.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Barclays set a $188.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $222.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hershey has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $179.21.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.52, for a total value of $281,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 56,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,654,698.88. This trade represents a 2.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of HSY opened at $167.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.24. Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $140.13 and a 1 year high of $208.03. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $185.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.92.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.11 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 13.54% and a return on equity of 37.36%. Hershey’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.34 earnings per share. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.900-6.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.91%.

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.