Osaic Holdings Inc. Grows Stock Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 23.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,095 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,223 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $9,818,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HSY. Choreo LLC lifted its holdings in Hershey by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 1,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 4.9% in the second quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 1,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 12.3% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 567 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Hershey by 46.3% in the second quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Optivise Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Hershey by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kirk Tanner bought 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $185.46 per share, for a total transaction of $370,920.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 47,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,876,115.60. This represents a 4.36% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Stacy Taffet purchased 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $186.19 per share, with a total value of $37,238.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,744,786.49. The trade was a 2.18% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 6,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,102,725. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of HSY opened at $189.40 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.41 billion, a PE ratio of 28.31 and a beta of 0.19. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $181.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $180.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Hershey Company has a 12-month low of $140.13 and a 12-month high of $199.00.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released 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. Hershey had a net margin of 11.84% and a return on equity of 32.08%. The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.900-6.000 EPS. Equities research 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, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were issued a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $195.00 to $211.00 in a report on Monday, December 15th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Hershey from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Hershey from $154.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Hershey from $187.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $184.95.

About Hershey

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.