Hershey Company (The) $HSY Stock Position Trimmed by USS Investment Management Ltd

Key Points

• USS Investment Management Ltd sold 25,600 shares of Hershey Company, reducing its holdings by 45.7%, leaving the firm with 30,405 shares valued at approximately $5.2 million.
• Insider selling occurred recently, with executives Rohit Grover and James Turoff selling shares worth a combined total of approximately $467,620 during July, leading to a decrease in their ownership.
• Hershey's latest quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting $1.21 earnings per share on revenues of $2.61 billion, which is 26% higher than the previous year.

USS Investment Management Ltd lowered its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) by 45.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,405 shares of the company's stock after selling 25,600 shares during the period. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Hershey were worth $5,198,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of Hershey by 3.8% in the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 16,203 shares of the company's stock worth $2,771,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P. increased its position in shares of Hershey by 128.2% in the first quarter. Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P. now owns 5,057 shares of the company's stock worth $865,000 after acquiring an additional 22,980 shares in the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV increased its position in shares of Hershey by 1.8% in the first quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 19,365 shares of the company's stock worth $3,312,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Hershey by 41.2% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 8,811 shares of the company's stock worth $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 2,569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Hershey by 6.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,310 shares of the company's stock worth $2,618,000 after acquiring an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on HSY. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Hershey from $155.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Hershey from $171.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Hershey from $160.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Hershey from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $171.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other news, insider Rohit Grover sold 1,334 shares of the firm'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 $240,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,852,240. This trade represents a 3.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP James Turoff sold 1,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $227,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 25,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,431,175. The trade was a 4.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 86,127 shares of company stock valued at $15,759,755. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Hershey Stock Down 0.3%

HSY stock traded down $0.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $184.95. 871,541 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,110,049. The company has a market capitalization of $37.49 billion, a PE ratio of 24.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 0.27. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $180.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $171.71.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion during 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.27 EPS. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.809-5.997 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Hershey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.78%.

Hershey 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.