California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 110,817 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 17.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 536,974 shares of the company’s stock after selling 110,817 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.26% of Hershey worth $89,111,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in Hershey during the second quarter valued at $224,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 1st quarter worth about $55,269,000. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA raised its position in shares of Hershey by 106.1% during the 1st quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA now owns 145,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,745,000 after buying an additional 74,894 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 694.5% in the 1st quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 16,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,782,000 after acquiring an additional 14,217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Hershey in the second quarter worth about $271,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, CEO Kirk Tanner acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $185.46 per share, for a total transaction of $370,920.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 47,860 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,876,115.60. This trade represents a 4.36% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.56, for a total transaction of $269,340.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 55,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,933,079.64. The trade was a 2.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 6,000 shares of company stock worth $1,103,640 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on HSY shares. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Hershey from $204.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. UBS Group decreased their price target on Hershey from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Hershey in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. They set a “hold” rating and a $181.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Argus raised shares of Hershey to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $182.79.

Hershey Price Performance

Hershey stock opened at $180.69 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $36.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.01 and a beta of 0.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $182.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $178.83. Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $140.13 and a 1 year high of $208.03.

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, 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 return on equity of 32.08% and a net margin of 11.84%.Hershey’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.34 earnings per share. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.900-6.000 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 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.