Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC Boosts Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 20.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,701 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 960 shares during the quarter. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $946,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Smart Money Group LLC increased its position in shares of Hershey by 15.0% during the second quarter. Smart Money Group LLC now owns 4,661 shares of the company’s stock worth $774,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC grew its stake in Hershey by 15.8% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 8,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,420,000 after purchasing an additional 1,165 shares in the last quarter. Excalibur Management Corp increased its holdings in Hershey by 41.7% during the 2nd quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 1,899 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the period. Yacktman Asset Management LP raised its position in Hershey by 44.5% during the 2nd quarter. Yacktman Asset Management LP now owns 38,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,348,000 after purchasing an additional 11,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 258,889 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,963,000 after buying an additional 1,561 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HSY has been the topic of several research reports. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $222.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $179.21.

Hershey Trading Up 1.8%

NYSE HSY opened at $170.64 on Friday. 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 price of $184.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $175.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market cap of $34.59 billion, a PE ratio of 22.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.24.

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

Hershey Announces Dividend

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

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.