Credit Agricole S A Has $7.54 Million Stake in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Key Points

• Credit Agricole S A increased its stake in Hershey Company by 9.6%, holding 44,102 shares valued at $7.54 million.
• Hershey reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.21, outperforming analysts' expectations of $0.98, with revenues up 26% from the previous year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.37, equating to an annualized dividend yield of 3.1%.

Credit Agricole S A boosted its stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) by 9.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,102 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,871 shares during the quarter. Credit Agricole S A's holdings in Hershey were worth $7,543,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in Hershey during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. bought a new position in Hershey during the first quarter worth $28,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Hershey by 129.5% during the first quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fort Vancouver Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Hershey during the first quarter worth $34,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HSY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price target on Hershey from $175.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Hershey from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on Hershey from $178.00 to $175.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Hershey from $173.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on Hershey from $171.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $170.83.

Hershey Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of Hershey stock traded up $2.1160 during trading on Friday, hitting $181.4760. 1,110,298 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,641,025. The stock has a market cap of $36.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.10, a PEG ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.53. Hershey Company has a twelve month low of $140.13 and a twelve month high of $208.03. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $176.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.62.

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

Hershey Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Rohit Grover sold 1,334 shares of the firm'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 value of $240,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,852,240. This trade represents a 3.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 5,000 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 $900,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 61,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,037,420. This represents a 7.54% 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 three months. 0.28% of the stock is 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.