Equitable Holdings Inc. Takes Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Equitable Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 44,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,860,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Hershey during the 2nd quarter worth $2,303,889,000. GQG Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Hershey during the 2nd quarter valued at about $485,436,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Hershey in the second quarter valued at approximately $274,871,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Hershey in the 4th quarter worth $272,506,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Hershey during the second quarter worth about $183,623,000. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Down 2.4%

HSY stock opened at $180.99 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.36 billion, a PE ratio of 24.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $179.04 and its 200-day moving average is $194.65. Hershey Company has a twelve month low of $161.43 and a twelve month high of $239.48.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.47. Hershey had a return on equity of 31.92% and a net margin of 12.24%.The business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.21 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.360-8.520 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $1.452 dividend. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 79.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $255,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 53,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,043,150. The trade was a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on HSY. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Hershey from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $191.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, July 31st. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Hershey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Hershey from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $201.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, July 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $204.78.

About Hershey

The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is a leading North American chocolatier and snack manufacturer headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The company develops, produces and markets a wide range of confectionery and snack products for retail, foodservice and international customers. Hershey’s business spans manufacturing, branded product marketing, packaging and distribution across grocery, convenience, mass merchant and e-commerce channels.

Hershey’s product portfolio centers on chocolate and sugar confectionery, including core brands such as Hershey’s, Reese’s, Hershey’s Kisses and Twizzlers, alongside non-chocolate snacks and confectionery brands.