Hixon Zuercher LLC Acquires 95 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Hixon Zuercher LLC boosted its holdings in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 2.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,093 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the quarter. Hixon Zuercher LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $679,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Hershey by 7.7% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,991,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $853,720,000 after purchasing an additional 356,249 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 25.4% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Hershey by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,590,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $272,092,000 after acquiring an additional 11,946 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 40.4% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,237,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,227,000 after purchasing an additional 356,105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,020,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,536,000 after buying an additional 17,311 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their target price on Hershey from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Hershey from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $222.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Hershey from $160.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hershey presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $177.67.

Hershey Stock Down 1.1%

HSY opened at $179.52 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $36.39 billion, a PE ratio of 23.84, a P/E/G ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Hershey Company has a 52 week low of $140.13 and a 52 week high of $208.03. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $186.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.58.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.23. The company 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%.Hershey’s quarterly revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.27 EPS. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.809-5.997 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 72.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.52, for a total transaction of $281,280.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 56,819 shares in the company, valued at $10,654,698.88. This trade represents a 2.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michele Buck sold 19,290 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.00, for a total value of $3,742,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 193,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,563,056. The trade was a 9.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,290 shares of company stock valued at $4,307,220 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.