Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $174.54 Million Stock Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Hershey Company by 1.7%, owning over 1 million shares worth approximately $174.54 million at the end of the recent quarter.
• Hershey's quarterly earnings surpassed analyst expectations as it reported $1.21 EPS on revenue of $2.61 billion, reflecting a 26% increase year-over-year.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $1.37 per share, with an annualized yield of 3.0%, set to be paid on September 15th to investors of record on August 15th.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,020,569 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 17,311 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.50% of Hershey worth $174,536,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Hershey during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Hershey during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. acquired a new position in Hershey during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Hershey by 129.5% during the 1st quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Fort Vancouver Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Hershey during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on HSY shares. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Hershey from $175.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Hershey from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Hershey from $178.00 to $175.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Hershey from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Hershey from $171.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $168.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In related news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 974 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.11, for a total transaction of $153,025.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $470,387.34. This represents a 24.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Rohit Grover sold 1,334 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $240,120.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 38,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,852,240. The trade was a 3.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 118,311 shares of company stock worth $20,931,348 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of HSY stock opened at $180.6380 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $36.62 billion, a PE ratio of 23.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $175.60 and a 200-day moving average of $168.78. Hershey Company has a one year low of $140.13 and a one year high of $208.03.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion during 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%.Hershey's revenue was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.27 EPS. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.809-5.997 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Hershey's dividend payout ratio is presently 72.78%.

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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