Hershey Company (The) $HSY Shares Sold by Confluence Investment Management LLC

Posted by Brenda Bartman on Aug 4th, 2026

Confluence Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY – Free Report) by 3.9% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 663,243 shares of the company’s stock after selling 27,106 shares during the period. Hershey accounts for about 1.8% of Confluence Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Confluence Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $116,366,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Hershey in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Reflection Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Hershey in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HSY. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Hershey from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $201.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $240.00 price target on Hershey in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Hershey from $208.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $203.61.

View Our Latest Stock Report on HSY

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of HSY opened at $177.72 on Tuesday. Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $161.43 and a 1-year high of $239.48. The stock has a market cap of $36.05 billion, a PE ratio of 24.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.11. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $178.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $196.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.63 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 31.92% and a net margin of 12.24%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 EPS. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.360-8.520 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 8.46 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $1.452 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 79.23%.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $255,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 53,195 shares in the company, valued at $9,043,150. This trade represents a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

About Hershey

(Free Report)

The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is a leading North American chocolatier and snack manufacturer headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The company develops, produces and markets a wide range of confectionery and snack products for retail, foodservice and international customers. Hershey’s business spans manufacturing, branded product marketing, packaging and distribution across grocery, convenience, mass merchant and e-commerce channels.

Hershey’s product portfolio centers on chocolate and sugar confectionery, including core brands such as Hershey’s, Reese’s, Hershey’s Kisses and Twizzlers, alongside non-chocolate snacks and confectionery brands.