Check Capital Management Inc. CA Lowers Stock Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Key Points

• Check Capital Management Inc. CA has decreased its stake in Hershey Company by 0.8%, retaining 186,554 shares, which now constitutes 1.0% of its portfolio.
• A variety of analysts have upgraded their ratings on Hershey, with price targets ranging from $167.00 to $208.00, and the stock currently holds an average rating of "Reduce."
• Hershey's quarterly earnings surpassed expectations, reporting $1.21 EPS against a consensus estimate of $0.98, alongside a 26.0% year-over-year revenue increase.

Check Capital Management Inc. CA reduced its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) by 0.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 186,554 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,521 shares during the period. Hershey accounts for 1.0% of Check Capital Management Inc. CA's portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Check Capital Management Inc. CA owned 0.09% of Hershey worth $30,959,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HSY. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,909 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,011,000 after buying an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 92.5% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 8,815 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,508,000 after buying an additional 4,236 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 1,320.6% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 44,493 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,610,000 after buying an additional 41,361 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the 1st quarter valued at about $472,000. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the 1st quarter valued at about $331,000. 57.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Hershey from $160.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Wall Street Zen raised Hershey from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane raised Hershey from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Hershey from $175.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Hershey from $173.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $175.89.

Hershey Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of HSY opened at $192.19 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 0.26. Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $140.13 and a 1 year high of $208.03. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $186.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.50 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 37.36% and a net margin of 13.54%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.27 EPS. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.809-5.997 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Hershey's dividend payout ratio is 72.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $900,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 61,319 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,037,420. The trade was a 7.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Rohit Grover sold 1,334 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $240,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,852,240. This represents a 3.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 65,704 shares of company stock valued at $12,206,910. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hershey Profile

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.

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