Panagora Asset Management Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Key Points

• Panagora Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in Hershey Company by 47.5%, selling 8,177 shares, and now owns 9,032 shares valued at approximately $1.5 million.
• Recent analysts' reports have set new price targets for Hershey, with Barclays increasing theirs to $190.00 and Mizuho adjusting to $165.00, reflecting a generally positive outlook.
• Hershey recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.37 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.0%, and the company’s payout ratio currently stands at 72.78%.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) by 47.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,032 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,177 shares during the quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HSY. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Hershey by 129.5% in the 1st quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fort Vancouver Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michele Buck sold 19,290 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $3,472,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 193,624 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,852,320. The trade was a 9.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Rohit Grover sold 1,334 shares of the company'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 $240,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,852,240. This represents a 3.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 86,127 shares of company stock valued at $15,759,755 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HSY has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Hershey from $135.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Hershey from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Hershey from $155.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $171.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hershey presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $170.83.

Hershey Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of Hershey stock traded up $1.35 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $186.83. 922,454 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,795,986. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $171.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Hershey Company has a twelve month low of $140.13 and a twelve month high of $208.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.27.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $1.27 earnings per share. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.809-5.997 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Hershey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.78%.

About Hershey

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.