Lbp Am Sa Acquires New Stake in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Key Points

• Lbp Am Sa acquired a new stake of 60,981 Hershey shares in Q4, valued at approximately $11.10 million, contributing to the company's ~57.96% institutional ownership.
• Hershey beat Q results (EPS $1.71 vs. $1.40 est., revenue $3.09B vs. $2.97B) and set FY2026 guidance of $8.200–8.520, while analysts average a "Hold" rating with a consensus target of $224.56.
• The board raised the quarterly dividend to $1.452 (annualized $5.81, ~3.0% yield), even as insiders sold about 10,000 shares (~$2.2M) and the company's U.S. president unexpectedly departed, creating short‑term execution uncertainty.

Lbp Am Sa acquired a new stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 60,981 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,097,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Liberty One Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Hershey by 32.4% in the 3rd quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 38,076 shares of the company's stock worth $7,122,000 after acquiring an additional 9,309 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 166.8% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 39,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,332,000 after acquiring an additional 24,509 shares in the last quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 6.6% during the third quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. now owns 113,746 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,276,000 after acquiring an additional 7,064 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 6.4% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 42,538 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,957,000 after purchasing an additional 2,573 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 9.4% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 60,978 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,406,000 after purchasing an additional 5,239 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Hershey from $238.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Hershey from $212.00 to $200.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. Zacks Research downgraded Hershey from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $249.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $224.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.71, for a total value of $325,065.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,974,210.99. The trade was a 2.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Rohit Grover sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total transaction of $791,245.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 34,568 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,814,787.76. The trade was a 9.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 10,000 shares of company stock worth $2,195,945 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $191.34 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $217.35 and a 200 day moving average of $196.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $38.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.18. Hershey Company has a 52 week low of $150.04 and a 52 week high of $239.48.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.31. Hershey had a return on equity of 27.90% and a net margin of 7.55%.The business had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.97 billion. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.69 EPS. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.200-8.520 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a dividend of $1.452 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This is an increase from Hershey's previous quarterly dividend of $1.37. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Hershey's dividend payout ratio is 133.87%.

Hershey News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Hershey this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Hershey projects a roughly $100M inventory reduction by deploying decision‑intelligence in its supply chain and investing in spend‑visibility tools — a potential boost to working capital and gross margins if realized. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company is reinforcing cocoa sourcing resilience through diversified suppliers, long‑term farmer programs and tighter cost controls — steps that should blunt commodity shocks and help margin recovery as cocoa inflation eases. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage and strategic narrative: commentary pieces note Hershey’s push to expand beyond candy into broader snacking and brand extension — a longer‑term growth story that could support multiple expansion if execution succeeds. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst activity ahead of Q1: reports say Jefferies adjusted its price target and kept a Hold, calling Q1 a potential turning point as the company moves past peak cocoa inflation toward margin recovery — signals caution mixed with improving outlook. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: BTIG initiated coverage with a neutral recommendation — adds analyst attention but not a directional endorsement. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/flows context: recent Forbes pieces about dividend rotation may influence demand among income investors, but they don’t single Hershey out for a material change in fundamentals. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Leadership turnover: Hershey’s U.S. president Andrew Archambault unexpectedly departed after a short tenure, creating near‑term execution uncertainty in its largest market and possibly raising concerns about management continuity. Article Title

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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