Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC Makes New Investment in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kennon Green & Company LLC boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 33.3% during the 1st quarter. Kennon Green & Company LLC now owns 43,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,379,000 after acquiring an additional 10,784 shares in the last quarter. William Allan Corp boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 173.1% in the 1st quarter. William Allan Corp now owns 18,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,180,000 after purchasing an additional 11,785 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 31,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,460,000 after purchasing an additional 2,757 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 1st quarter valued at about $55,269,000. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 21,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 56,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,654,698.88. This trade represents a 2.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michele Buck sold 19,290 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.00, for a total value of $3,742,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 193,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,563,056. The trade was a 9.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 22,290 shares of company stock valued at $4,307,220. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on HSY shares. BNP Paribas Exane raised Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $170.00 to $222.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Hershey from $192.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Hershey from $187.00 to $189.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $193.00 price objective on Hershey in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $177.67.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of HSY stock opened at $179.52 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $36.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.26. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.58. Hershey Company has a 12-month low of $140.13 and a 12-month high of $208.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 37.36% and a net margin of 13.54%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.27 EPS. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.809-5.997 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 72.78%.

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.