MAI Capital Management Sells 4,352 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

MAI Capital Management reduced its position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 26.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,962 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,352 shares during the quarter. MAI Capital Management’s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,985,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its holdings in Hershey by 4.9% in the second quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 1,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Hershey by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 567 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 7,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,229,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RKL Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Hershey by 1.0% during the second quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,155,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. 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 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.56, for a total value of $269,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 55,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,933,079.64. This represents a 2.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 6,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,103,640 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Hershey from $167.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, October 31st. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $204.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $188.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated a “mixed” rating and set a $184.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $179.74.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of HSY stock opened at $186.24 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $183.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $177.01. Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $140.13 and a 12 month high of $208.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.77 billion, a PE ratio of 24.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.24.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 for 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.34 earnings per share. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.900-6.000 EPS. Analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 81.91%.

Hershey 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.