Sage Mountain Advisors LLC Acquires New Shares in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Sage Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $242,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 356,249 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 557,056 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 11,946 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 356,105 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 17,311 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $179.52 on Monday. Hershey Company has a one year low of $140.13 and a one year high of $208.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.84, a PEG ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.26. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $186.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.27 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.809-5.997 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were given a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 72.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HSY has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Hershey from $187.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Hershey from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Hershey from $155.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $222.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Hershey from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $177.67.

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, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.52, for a total value of $281,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 56,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,654,698.88. The trade was a 2.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 stock was sold at an average price of $194.00, for a total value of $3,742,260.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 193,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,563,056. This represents a 9.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,290 shares of company stock valued at $4,307,220 over the last ninety days. 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.