GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC Acquires 541 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC raised its holdings in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 189.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 827 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 541 shares during the period. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $137,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HSY. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Hershey by 6,721.3% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 819,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $140,150,000 after purchasing an additional 807,433 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 25.4% in 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 last quarter. Scharf Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Hershey in the 2nd quarter worth $90,588,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $853,720,000 after buying an additional 356,249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its position in Hershey by 40.4% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,237,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,227,000 after acquiring an additional 356,105 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.52, for a total transaction of $281,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 56,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,654,698.88. This represents a 2.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on HSY. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $222.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Hershey from $187.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Evercore ISI reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $179.21.

Hershey Price Performance

HSY opened at $167.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $185.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.92. The firm has a market cap of $34.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.28, a PEG ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.24. Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $140.13 and a 1 year high of $208.03.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.24. Hershey had a return on equity of 37.36% and a net margin of 13.54%.The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.34 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.900-6.000 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.91%.

About Hershey

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.