Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 53.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,248 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,480 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $705,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC bought a new position in Hershey during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $391,000. Aberdeen Group plc grew its position in Hershey by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 108,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,005,000 after acquiring an additional 5,571 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank grew its position in Hershey by 34.9% during the 2nd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 2,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $372,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Hershey by 33.6% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,711 shares of the company’s stock worth $284,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the period. 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 193,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,563,056. This represents a 9.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.12, for a total value of $283,680.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 58,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,029,289.28. The trade was a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 65,704 shares of company stock worth $12,206,910. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on HSY. UBS Group increased their price objective on Hershey from $192.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Hershey from $171.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Hershey from $160.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Hershey from $155.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Hershey from $154.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $175.89.

Hershey Stock Performance

NYSE:HSY opened at $192.19 on Monday. 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 12-month low of $140.13 and a 12-month high of $208.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $186.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.64 and a beta of 0.26.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.27 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.809-5.997 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.