Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Raises Stock Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 156,826 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,952 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $27,515,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at $272,506,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 546.6% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,057,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $192,439,000 after purchasing an additional 893,940 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 315.4% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,083,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,285,000 after purchasing an additional 822,772 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Hershey by 150.1% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,278,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,731,000 after buying an additional 767,478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Hershey by 4,478.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 586,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,666,000 after buying an additional 573,339 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HSY has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Hershey from $215.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Hershey from $249.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $240.00 price target on Hershey in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $190.00 price objective on Hershey in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Hershey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hershey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $203.61.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $255,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 53,195 shares in the company, valued at $9,043,150. This trade represents a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hershey Stock Performance

NYSE HSY opened at $185.97 on Friday. Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $161.43 and a 52-week high of $239.48. The company has a fifty day moving average of $177.65 and a 200-day moving average of $195.79. The company has a market capitalization of $37.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.18.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.47. Hershey had a return on equity of 31.92% and a net margin of 12.24%.The business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.360-8.520 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a $1.452 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 79.37%.

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.