Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC Invests $640,000 in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 3,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $640,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Hershey during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Reflection Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of Hershey in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hershey in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HSY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Hershey from $212.00 to $206.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $190.00 price target on Hershey in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $201.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $204.78.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $179.34 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $179.18 and a 200 day moving average of $194.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $36.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.11. Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $161.43 and a 12 month high of $239.48.

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

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.452 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.37%.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 53,195 shares in the company, valued at $9,043,150. The trade was a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Profile

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.