Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Decreases Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group cut its Hershey stake by 5.7%, selling 21,013 shares to hold 345,150 shares worth about $62.8 million (roughly 0.17% of the company).
• Analysts currently have a consensus "Hold" rating on HSY with a consensus price target of $224.56 (six Buys vs. seventeen Holds), reflecting mixed outlooks from brokerages.
• Hershey beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, set FY2026 guidance of 8.200–8.520 EPS, and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.452 ($5.81 annual, ~2.9% yield).

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 345,150 shares of the company's stock after selling 21,013 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.17% of Hershey worth $62,810,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Hershey by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,310 shares of the company's stock worth $2,618,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 20.2% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the company's stock valued at $116,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the 2nd quarter valued at about $267,000. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in shares of Hershey by 4.5% during the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 17,927 shares of the company's stock worth $2,975,000 after buying an additional 769 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 5.4% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 22,247 shares of the company's stock worth $3,692,000 after buying an additional 1,149 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HSY. DA Davidson set a $243.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $212.00 to $200.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $224.56.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 owned 59,869 shares in the company, valued at $12,974,210.99. This represents a 2.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jason Reiman sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total value of $452,140.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 41,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,277,008.52. The trade was a 4.65% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 10,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,195,945 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of HSY opened at $197.67 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.18. Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $150.04 and a 52-week high of $239.48. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $218.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $196.88.

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

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $1.452 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from Hershey's previous quarterly dividend of $1.37. Hershey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 133.87%.

Hershey Company 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.