Bank of New York Mellon Corp Has $159.09 Million Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Bank of New York Mellon Corp reduced its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 0.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 958,672 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,870 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.47% of Hershey worth $159,092,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH acquired a new position in shares of Hershey in the second quarter worth $28,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in shares of Hershey in the first quarter worth $36,000. Whittier Trust Co. acquired a new position in shares of Hershey in the first quarter worth $44,000. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hershey in the first quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 934.5% in the second quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 300 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hershey Stock Up 2.4%

HSY stock opened at $169.92 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $140.13 and a 52-week high of $208.03. The company has a 50-day moving average of $185.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $175.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.24.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.24. Hershey had a net margin of 13.54% and a return on equity of 37.36%. The company had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.34 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.900-6.000 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 81.91%.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.52, for a total transaction of $281,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 56,819 shares in the company, valued at $10,654,698.88. This represents a 2.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on HSY shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Hershey from $187.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. DA Davidson upped 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. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Hershey from $155.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hershey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $179.21.

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.