Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC Decreases Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,424 shares of the company’s stock after selling 866 shares during the quarter. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $2,394,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. Aberdeen Group plc grew its position in shares of Hershey by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 108,495 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,005,000 after buying an additional 5,571 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank grew its position in shares of Hershey by 34.9% in the 2nd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 2,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $372,000 after buying an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Hershey by 33.6% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,711 shares of the company’s stock valued at $284,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the 2nd quarter valued at $6,407,000. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI grew its position in shares of Hershey by 30.8% in the 2nd quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 8,953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,486,000 after buying an additional 2,106 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michele Buck sold 19,290 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $3,472,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 193,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,852,320. This represents a 9.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Rohit Grover sold 1,334 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The stock was 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 $6,852,240. This represents a 3.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 65,704 shares of company stock valued at $12,206,910 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on HSY shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $222.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Barclays lifted their price target on Hershey from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Hershey from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Hershey presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $175.89.

Hershey Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:HSY opened at $192.19 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $38.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.52, a PEG ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 0.26. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $186.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.09. Hershey Company has a 12-month low of $140.13 and a 12-month high of $208.03.

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

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 72.78%.

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.