Occidental Asset Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Key Points

• Occidental Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Hershey Company by 17.7% during the second quarter, holding a total of 16,775 shares valued at approximately $2.78 million.
• Analysts have varied ratings for Hershey, with Mizuho and Barclays increasing their price targets, while Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock from a "sell" to a "buy" rating.
• Hershey's recent earnings report showed a 26.0% increase in revenue compared to the previous year, with an EPS of $1.21 exceeding expectations by $0.23.

Occidental Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) by 17.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,775 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,519 shares during the period. Occidental Asset Management LLC's holdings in Hershey were worth $2,784,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA grew its position in shares of Hershey by 36.9% during the 2nd quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 2,314 shares of the company's stock valued at $384,000 after acquiring an additional 624 shares during the period. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 2nd quarter valued at about $86,000. Gries Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Hershey by 70.7% during the 2nd quarter. Gries Financial LLC now owns 13,272 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,202,000 after acquiring an additional 5,496 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its position in shares of Hershey by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,388 shares of the company's stock valued at $230,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. Finally, KFG Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Hershey by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,493 shares of the company's stock valued at $912,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on HSY shares. Mizuho raised their target price on Hershey from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Hershey from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $170.00 to $222.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Hershey in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $187.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Hershey from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Hershey from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hershey has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $173.89.

Hershey Stock Up 1.2%

HSY stock opened at $192.48 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $39.02 billion, a PE ratio of 25.56, a PEG ratio of 4.59 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. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $183.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $172.21. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 13.54% and a return on equity of 37.36%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.27 EPS. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.809-5.997 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Hershey's payout ratio is presently 72.78%.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CEO Michele Buck sold 19,290 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.00, for a total value of $3,742,260.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 193,624 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,563,056. The trade was a 9.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP James Turoff sold 1,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $227,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 25,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,431,175. The trade was a 4.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 87,627 shares of company stock worth $16,043,435 in the last ninety days. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hershey Company 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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