The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Purchases 109,418 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Key Points

• Manulife increased its Hershey stake by 125.9% in the second quarter, acquiring 109,418 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 196,337 shares valued at approximately $34.4 million.
• Analysts maintain a broadly cautious outlook, with seven Buy ratings and sixteen Hold ratings; the average price target is $204.78 versus Hershey’s reported share price of $173.30.
• Hershey exceeded quarterly expectations with $1.90 in EPS and $2.79 billion in revenue, while announcing a $1.452 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 3.4% annual yield.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) by 125.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 196,337 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 109,418 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.10% of Hershey worth $34,447,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Syon Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Hershey by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 3,020 shares of the company's stock valued at $550,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Haverford Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 6,796 shares of the company's stock worth $1,237,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Hershey by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,561 shares of the company's stock worth $466,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Hershey by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 8,034 shares of the company's stock worth $1,462,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its stake in Hershey by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,325 shares of the company's stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on HSY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Hershey from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $190.00 price target on Hershey in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Hershey from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Hershey from $249.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Evercore set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $204.78.

Hershey Stock Down 0.6%

HSY opened at $173.30 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $34.82 billion, a PE ratio of 23.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.11. 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 business's fifty day simple moving average is $178.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $191.06.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.47. Hershey had a return on equity of 31.92% and a net margin of 12.24%.The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.360-8.520 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors 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 yield of 3.4%. Hershey's payout ratio is presently 79.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $255,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 53,195 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,043,150. This represents a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 insiders.

About Hershey

The Hershey Company is a global confectionery and snack manufacturer headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Its portfolio includes chocolate, non-chocolate confectionery, salty snacks and pantry products sold under brands such as Hershey's, Reese's, Kit Kat, Jolly Rancher, Twizzlers, Ice Breakers, SkinnyPop and Dot's.

Milton S. Hershey founded the company in 1894, and its milk chocolate business helped establish Hershey, Pennsylvania, as a center of American chocolate production. The company has expanded beyond its original chocolate offerings through product development, licensing arrangements and acquisitions in the confectionery and snack categories.

Hershey serves consumers primarily in the United States and Canada and markets its products internationally through retail, e-commerce and other distribution channels.

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