62,730 Hershey Company (The) $HSY Shares Acquired by Douglas Lane & Associates LLC

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 494,484 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 62,730 shares during the quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC owned approximately 0.25% of Hershey worth $77,936,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HSY. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Hershey by 126.4% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 84,215 shares of the company's stock worth $17,508,000 after purchasing an additional 47,017 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Hershey by 125.9% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 196,337 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,447,000 after acquiring an additional 109,418 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in Hershey in the 2nd quarter worth about $62,664,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Hershey during the second quarter worth $274,871,000. Finally, OP Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in Hershey during the first quarter valued at about $3,182,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $9,043,150. The trade was a 2.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hershey Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE HSY traded down $0.39 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $162.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 296,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,853,578. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The business's 50 day moving average is $174.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $183.03. Hershey Company has a 12-month low of $156.16 and a 12-month high of $239.48. The firm has a market cap of $32.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.10.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.47. Hershey had a return on equity of 31.92% and a net margin of 12.24%.The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. Hershey's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.360-8.520 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th were given a $1.4520 dividend. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. Hershey's dividend payout ratio is currently 79.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HSY. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $215.00 to $180.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. UBS Group boosted their price target on Hershey from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Hershey from $249.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $190.00 price objective on Hershey in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $203.67.

Hershey Company Profile

The Hershey Company NYSE: HSY is a global confectionery and snack food company headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Founded by Milton S. Hershey in 1894, the company began as a chocolate manufacturer and has grown into one of the largest producers of confectionery products in North America.

Hershey's portfolio includes chocolate, candy, gum, mints, protein bars and salty snacks. Its well-known brands include Hershey's, Reese's, Kisses, Kit Kat, Jolly Rancher, Twizzlers, Ice Breakers, SkinnyPop and Dot's.

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