Pacific Point Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Pacific Point Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,792 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 436 shares during the quarter. Hershey makes up approximately 0.9% of Pacific Point Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Pacific Point Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Hershey by 2.6% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $473,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in Hershey by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 329,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,407,000 after acquiring an additional 10,656 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of Hershey by 5.9% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 33,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,899 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 113,833.3% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 3,418 shares of the company’s stock worth $584,000 after acquiring an additional 3,415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in Hershey by 51.6% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 27,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,762,000 after purchasing an additional 9,475 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HSY has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Hershey from $160.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. BNP Paribas Exane raised Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Hershey from $154.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Hershey from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $174.05.

Hershey Stock Performance

NYSE:HSY opened at $187.08 on Wednesday. Hershey Company has a 52 week low of $140.13 and a 52 week high of $208.03. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $185.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $172.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $37.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.27.

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

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Rohit Grover sold 1,334 shares of the company’s 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 $240,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,852,240. This represents a 3.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.12, for a total transaction of $283,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 58,319 shares in the company, valued at $11,029,289.28. This trade represents a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 65,704 shares of company stock worth $12,206,910. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.