Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Sells 424 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. trimmed its position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 0.3% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 153,203 shares of the company’s stock after selling 424 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $25,424,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 7.7% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,991,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $853,720,000 after buying an additional 356,249 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 25.4% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,753,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,858,000 after acquiring an additional 557,056 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,590,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $272,092,000 after acquiring an additional 11,946 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 40.4% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,237,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,227,000 after acquiring an additional 356,105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,020,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,536,000 after acquiring an additional 17,311 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on HSY shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $222.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Hershey from $155.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Hershey in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $187.00 price objective on the stock. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Hershey from $171.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $154.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $174.05.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $195.04 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $185.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $173.15. Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $140.13 and a 1-year high of $208.03. The company has a market cap of $39.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.90, a PEG ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 0.26.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.23. Hershey had a return on equity of 37.36% and a net margin of 13.54%.The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.27 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.809-5.997 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, CEO Michele Buck sold 19,290 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.00, for a total transaction of $3,742,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 193,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,563,056. This trade represents a 9.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Rohit Grover sold 1,334 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $240,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,068 shares in the company, valued at $6,852,240. This trade represents a 3.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 65,704 shares of company stock worth $12,206,910. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

About Hershey

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.