Insider Selling: Hershey (NYSE:HSY) CFO Sells $325,065.00 in Stock

Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) CFO Steven Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.71, for a total value of $325,065.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 59,869 shares in the company, valued at $12,974,210.99. The trade was a 2.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Hershey Price Performance

HSY stock opened at $210.10 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $42.58 billion, a PE ratio of 48.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $213.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.42. Hershey Company has a 12-month low of $150.04 and a 12-month high of $239.48.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.31. Hershey had a return on equity of 27.90% and a net margin of 7.55%.The company had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.69 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.200-8.520 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a dividend of $1.452 per share. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 133.87%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hershey

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 1,537.5% during the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Reflection Asset Management purchased a new position in Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Hershey in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HSY has been the topic of a number of research reports. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Hershey from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Hershey from $185.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Hershey from $195.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Bank of America increased their target price on Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Hershey in a report 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $222.68.

Hershey Company 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.