Paralel Advisors LLC Takes Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Key Points

• Paralel Advisors LLC acquired 11,118 Hershey shares worth approximately $1.95 million in the second quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 57.96% of HSY.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with a $203.61 target price, though recent firms have made mixed adjustments to their targets.
• Hershey exceeded quarterly expectations with $1.90 EPS and $2.79 billion in revenue, while declaring a $1.452 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 3.1% annual yield.

Paralel Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 11,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,951,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators acquired a new position in Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,633,000. Prudential PLC raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 237.3% in the fourth quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 7,988 shares of the company's stock worth $1,454,000 after buying an additional 5,620 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter worth $2,744,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 126.4% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 84,215 shares of the company's stock worth $17,508,000 after buying an additional 47,017 shares during the period. Finally, Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter valued at $23,675,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HSY. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Hershey from $247.00 to $227.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Hershey from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. DA Davidson set a $190.00 price objective on Hershey in a report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Hershey from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Hershey from $215.00 to $180.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $203.61.

Insider Activity

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $255,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 53,195 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,043,150. The trade was a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hershey Price Performance

NYSE:HSY opened at $188.71 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Hershey Company has a 52 week low of $161.43 and a 52 week high of $239.48. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $178.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $195.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.92 billion, a PE ratio of 25.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.11.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 31.92% and a net margin of 12.24%.The business's revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.360-8.520 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 8.49 EPS 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 $1.452 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Hershey's dividend payout ratio is 79.37%.

About Hershey

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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