Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Holdings in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in The Hershey Company by 1.0% in Q4 to 19,067,235 shares, representing about 9.40% ownership and roughly $3.47 billion in value.
• Hershey beat quarterly expectations with $1.71 EPS (vs. $1.40 est.) and $3.09 billion revenue (up 7% YoY), set FY2026 guidance of 8.200–8.520 EPS, and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.452 (annualized $5.81, ~3.1% yield).
• Analyst views are mixed—several firms adjusted price targets both higher and lower, and the consensus rating is Hold with an average target of $223.83 (six Buy, seventeen Hold).

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,067,235 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 191,671 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.40% of Hershey worth $3,469,855,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its position in Hershey by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,070 shares of the company's stock worth $559,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. raised its position in Hershey by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,407 shares of the company's stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. BSW Wealth Partners raised its position in Hershey by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 1,132 shares of the company's stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Bellevue Asset Management LLC raised its position in Hershey by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bellevue Asset Management LLC now owns 514 shares of the company's stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its position in Hershey by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 798 shares of the company's stock worth $149,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Hershey from $247.00 to $227.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $182.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $223.83.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HSY opened at $188.11 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $38.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.34, a PEG ratio of 1.12 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's 50-day moving average price is $211.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $196.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.31. The firm 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 was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.69 EPS. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.200-8.520 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 8.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a $1.452 dividend. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This is a positive change from Hershey's previous quarterly dividend of $1.37. Hershey's dividend payout ratio is currently 133.87%.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.10, for a total value of $291,150.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 57,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,198,599.50. This represents a 2.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Rohit Grover sold 3,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total transaction of $791,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 34,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,814,787.76. This trade represents a 9.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 10,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,189,090. Insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

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.

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