Midwest Trust Co Purchases Shares of 6,406 Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Midwest Trust Co acquired a new position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 6,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,063,000.

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

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 Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.52, for a total transaction of $281,280.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 56,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,654,698.88. This trade represents a 2.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Performance

HSY opened at $172.70 on Wednesday. Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $140.13 and a 1-year high of $208.03. The company has a market cap of $35.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.93, a PEG ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.24. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $184.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.24. Hershey had a net margin of 13.54% and a return on equity of 37.36%. 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 firm posted $2.34 earnings per share. The firm’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, analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 81.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $170.00 to $222.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $204.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $179.05.

About Hershey

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.