Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas Decreases Holdings in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas decreased its holdings in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 39.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 86,276 shares of the company’s stock after selling 55,334 shares during the period. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas’ holdings in Hershey were worth $16,138,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 6.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,618,000 after buying an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Hershey by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 14,468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,401,000 after acquiring an additional 730 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in Hershey by 32.9% during the 2nd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 16,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,666,000 after acquiring an additional 3,979 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its stake in Hershey by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 41,934 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,959,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, South Dakota Investment Council bought a new stake in Hershey in the second quarter valued at approximately $332,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HSY. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $182.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hershey from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Hershey from $185.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $222.21.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.66, for a total value of $329,490.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 50,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,162,901.54. The trade was a 2.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Rohit Grover sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total transaction of $791,245.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 34,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,814,787.76. The trade was a 9.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 10,000 shares of company stock worth $2,153,645 over the last quarter. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of HSY stock opened at $234.48 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.19. The company has a market capitalization of $47.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.14. Hershey Company has a one year low of $150.04 and a one year high of $239.48. The company’s 50-day moving average is $204.47 and its 200 day moving average is $191.10.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 7.55% and a return on equity of 27.90%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.200-8.520 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a $1.452 dividend. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.37. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 133.87%.

Hershey Company Profile

The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is a leading North American chocolatier and snack manufacturer headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The company develops, produces and markets a wide range of confectionery and snack products for retail, foodservice and international customers. Hershey’s business spans manufacturing, branded product marketing, packaging and distribution across grocery, convenience, mass merchant and e-commerce channels.

Hershey’s product portfolio centers on chocolate and sugar confectionery, including core brands such as Hershey’s, Reese’s, Hershey’s Kisses and Twizzlers, alongside non-chocolate snacks and confectionery brands.