Hershey Company (The) $HSY Shares Purchased by Crestwood Advisors Group LLC

Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,441 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $405,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of HSY. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 7.7% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Hershey by 25.4% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,753,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,858,000 after acquiring an additional 557,056 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Hershey by 0.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in Hershey by 40.4% in 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 boosted 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Hershey from $154.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Mizuho upped their target price on Hershey from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Hershey from $171.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $204.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hershey currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $179.21.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $170.64 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $34.59 billion, a PE ratio of 22.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.24. 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 $184.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.95.

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

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Hershey’s payout ratio is 81.91%.

Insider Activity at Hershey

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

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.