Hilltop Holdings Inc. Acquires 11,988 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Hilltop Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 437.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 14,729 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 11,988 shares during the quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $2,755,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HSY. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the second quarter worth $234,386,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Hershey by 240.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,262,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,183,000 after acquiring an additional 891,287 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Hershey in the 2nd quarter valued at $125,868,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Hershey by 121.2% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,104,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,559,000 after purchasing an additional 605,048 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP increased its holdings in Hershey by 44.7% during the 2nd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,232,595 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,549,000 after purchasing an additional 380,512 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Hershey News

Here are the key news stories impacting Hershey this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 outperformance and continuing guidance support: Analysts and sector write-ups highlighted Hershey’s strong Q4 performance within the shelf-stable foods group (revenue and EPS beats and FY26 guidance noted earlier this season), which underpins the bullish sentiment. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade/price-target lift: Morgan Stanley raised Hershey’s price target (reported coverage) and has a more constructive stance, increasing upside expectations — a direct catalyst for buying interest. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Commodity tailwind for margins: Morgan Stanley’s sector note boosting Mondelez to top pick cites cocoa deflation — the same cocoa-price trend benefits Hershey by easing input-cost pressure and improving margin outlook across the industry. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic portfolio repositioning: Hershey began operating under a unified sweet/salty/protein portfolio structure aimed at clearer go-to-market focus and growth across faster segments — investors view this as supportive for organic growth and cross-selling. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Sustainability / supply-chain collaboration: Hershey joined competitors on the TogetherCocoa initiative, a cooperative effort to address cocoa supply-chain resilience and sustainability — positive for long-term ingredient security and ESG positioning. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Operational streamlining in the U.S.: Company plans to streamline U.S. businesses (potentially lowering costs), but details on charges, savings and timelines are limited — a watch item for near-term restructuring costs vs. long-term savings. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Defensive dividend narrative: Coverage labeling Hershey a “dividend monster” reinforces its defensive, income-oriented appeal to investors but is unlikely to trigger large re-ratings by itself. Read More.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In related news, insider Rohit Grover sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total value of $791,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 34,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,814,787.76. This trade represents a 9.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jason Reiman sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total transaction of $452,140.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 41,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,277,008.52. The trade was a 4.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 10,000 shares of company stock worth $2,153,645 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on HSY. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Hershey from $182.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $267.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Argus raised Hershey to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $222.68.

Hershey Trading Up 1.3%

Hershey stock opened at $219.92 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $44.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $211.50 and a 200-day moving average of $193.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Hershey Company has a one year low of $150.04 and a one year high of $239.48.

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

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a dividend of $1.452 per share. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 133.87%.

Hershey 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.