CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. Makes New Investment in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 54,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,235,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HSY. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Hershey by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,618,000 after buying an additional 937 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 13,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,184,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 3.9% in the second quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 27,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,631,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,840,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,126,594,000 after acquiring an additional 210,131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 7.4% during the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 186,997 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,032,000 after acquiring an additional 12,832 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other news, SVP Jason Reiman sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total transaction of $452,140.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 41,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,277,008.52. This trade represents a 4.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.71, for a total value of $325,065.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,974,210.99. This trade represents a 2.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,195,945. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Hershey from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Hershey from $238.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $222.68.

Hershey Stock Performance

HSY stock opened at $210.10 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $213.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $194.36. Hershey Company has a 52 week low of $150.04 and a 52 week high of $239.48. The stock has a market cap of $42.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.19.

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

Hershey Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $1.452 per share. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.37. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 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.