Anchor Capital Advisors LLC Sells 12,873 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) by 5.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 227,406 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,873 shares during the period. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Hershey worth $39,898,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Hershey by 17,582.2% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 43,248,250 shares of the company's stock worth $7,587,905,000 after buying an additional 43,003,663 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the second quarter worth approximately $2,303,889,000. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the second quarter worth approximately $485,436,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $274,871,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at $272,506,000. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HSY has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Hershey from $249.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target 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. DA Davidson set a $190.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Hershey from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Hershey from $212.00 to $206.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hershey presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $204.78.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $173.26 on Tuesday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $178.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $192.20. The company has a market cap of $34.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.11. Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $161.43 and a 12 month high of $239.48.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.47. Hershey had a return on equity of 31.92% and a net margin of 12.24%.The company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.63 billion. During the same period last year, the firm 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 analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.452 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Hershey's payout ratio is 79.37%.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 53,195 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,043,150. This trade represents a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 Company Profile

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.

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