Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Cuts Stake in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC cut its stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 75,862 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,076 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $14,190,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HSY. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1,537.5% in the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. 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 acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Hershey during the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on HSY shares. UBS Group cut their price objective on Hershey from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Barclays set a $188.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $187.32.

Hershey Stock Performance

Hershey stock opened at $189.08 on Friday. Hershey Company has a 12-month low of $140.13 and a 12-month high of $199.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $38.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.26 and a beta of 0.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $181.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $181.86.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.24. Hershey had a net margin of 11.84% and a return on equity of 32.08%. The company had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.900-6.000 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 81.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.51, for a total value of $282,765.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 53,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,145,419.69. The trade was a 2.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kirk Tanner purchased 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $185.46 per share, for a total transaction of $370,920.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 47,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,876,115.60. This represents a 4.36% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have sold 6,000 shares of company stock worth $1,102,725 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.