Hershey Company (The) $HSY Shares Purchased by Crestwood Advisors Group LLC

Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 15.1% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,441 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $405,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of HSY. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 4.9% during the second quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 1,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC increased its stake in Hershey by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 1,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Optivise Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Hershey by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Hershey by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 7,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,229,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in Hershey by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 7,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,179,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler raised Hershey from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $167.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays set a $188.00 target price on Hershey in a report on Monday. Bank of America upped their price target on Hershey from $175.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Hershey from $154.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $222.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $179.21.

Hershey Stock Performance

NYSE:HSY opened at $170.64 on Friday. Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $140.13 and a 12 month high of $208.03. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $34.59 billion, a PE ratio of 22.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.24. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $184.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.95.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.24. Hershey had a return on equity of 37.36% and a net margin of 13.54%.The company had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.34 EPS. Hershey’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.900-6.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 81.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.52, for a total value of $281,280.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 56,819 shares in the company, valued at $10,654,698.88. This represents a 2.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.