Ancora Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 13,976 Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Key Points

• Ancora Advisors acquired 13,976 Hershey shares worth approximately $2.45 million during the second quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 57.96% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating on Hershey, with an average price target of $204.78.
• Hershey exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.90 in EPS and $2.79 billion in revenue, while declaring a quarterly dividend of $1.452 per share, equivalent to a 3.1% yield.

Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 13,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,452,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Hershey in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,303,889,000. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Hershey in the second quarter worth $485,436,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Hershey in the fourth quarter worth $272,506,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Hershey in the second quarter valued at $183,623,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Hershey by 546.6% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,057,476 shares of the company's stock valued at $192,439,000 after acquiring an additional 893,940 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HSY. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $191.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $190.00 target price on Hershey in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Hershey from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Evercore set a $225.00 price target on Hershey in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Hershey from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $204.78.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $255,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 Price Performance

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $185.77 on Thursday. Hershey Company has a one year low of $161.43 and a one year high of $239.48. The stock's fifty day moving average is $178.87 and its 200 day moving average is $195.00. The stock has a market cap of $37.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.18.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Hershey had a return on equity of 31.92% and a net margin of 12.24%.The business 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 company posted $1.21 earnings per share. Hershey's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.360-8.520 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $1.452 dividend. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Hershey's dividend payout ratio is presently 79.37%.

Hershey 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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