HighTower Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 88,581 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,498 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Hershey were worth $15,542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Reflection Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc purchased a new position in Hershey in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hershey during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on HSY. Jefferies Financial Group set a $190.00 price objective on Hershey in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group increased their target price on Hershey from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. DA Davidson set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $208.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on Hershey from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $204.78.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Steven Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value 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 represents a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Hershey Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE HSY opened at $171.96 on Thursday. Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $161.43 and a 1 year high of $239.48. The firm has a market cap of $34.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.49, a PEG ratio of 1.37 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. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $178.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $191.52.

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

Hershey Dividend Announcement

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

Hershey Company Profile

The Hershey Company is a global confectionery and snack manufacturer headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Its portfolio includes chocolate, non-chocolate confectionery, salty snacks and pantry products sold under brands such as Hershey's, Reese's, Kit Kat, Jolly Rancher, Twizzlers, Ice Breakers, SkinnyPop and Dot's.

Milton S. Hershey founded the company in 1894, and its milk chocolate business helped establish Hershey, Pennsylvania, as a center of American chocolate production. The company has expanded beyond its original chocolate offerings through product development, licensing arrangements and acquisitions in the confectionery and snack categories.

Hershey serves consumers primarily in the United States and Canada and markets its products internationally through retail, e-commerce and other distribution channels.

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