Trust Co. of Vermont Has $436,000 Stock Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Trust Co. of Vermont reduced its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,629 shares of the company’s stock after selling 62 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Hershey were worth $436,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,991,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $853,720,000 after purchasing an additional 356,249 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 25.4% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,753,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $470,858,000 after purchasing an additional 557,056 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,590,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,092,000 after purchasing an additional 11,946 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 40.4% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,237,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,227,000 after purchasing an additional 356,105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,020,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,536,000 after purchasing an additional 17,311 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Hershey from $171.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Hershey from $160.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $222.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $174.05.

Hershey Price Performance

Hershey stock opened at $188.80 on Thursday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $38.27 billion, a PE ratio of 25.07, a P/E/G ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 0.26. Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $140.13 and a 12 month high of $208.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $185.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $172.84.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 37.36% and a net margin of 13.54%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.27 earnings per share. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.809-5.997 EPS. Analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.78%.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CEO Michele Buck sold 19,290 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $3,472,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 193,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,852,320. The trade was a 9.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $900,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 61,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,037,420. This trade represents a 7.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 65,704 shares of company stock worth $12,206,910 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.