Hershey Company (The) $HSY Shares Acquired by Mufg Securities Americas Inc.

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. raised its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 25.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,280 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 664 shares during the quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $544,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of HSY. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,840,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,126,594,000 after acquiring an additional 210,131 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Hershey by 7.7% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,991,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $853,720,000 after purchasing an additional 356,249 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Hershey by 2.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,567,373 shares of the company’s stock worth $755,305,000 after purchasing an additional 126,519 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Hershey by 4.6% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,276,326 shares of the company’s stock worth $543,712,000 after purchasing an additional 144,640 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Hershey by 25.4% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,753,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,858,000 after purchasing an additional 557,056 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on HSY shares. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Hershey from $175.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Hershey from $188.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Hershey from $154.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued a “mixed” rating and issued a $184.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $179.74.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $186.11 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $183.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.72, a PEG ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.89 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.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.24. Hershey had a return on equity of 37.36% and a net margin of 13.54%.The business had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.34 earnings per share. The business’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. Analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.91%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.56, for a total transaction of $269,340.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 55,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,933,079.64. This trade represents a 2.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 6,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,103,640 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.