Bell Bank Buys New Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Bell Bank bought a new stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 10,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,874,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 6.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,618,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in Hershey during the second quarter worth $443,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Hershey by 1.7% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 136,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,601,000 after purchasing an additional 2,252 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC grew its position in Hershey by 3.6% in the second quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 1,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $283,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in Hershey by 82.4% in the second quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $793,000 after purchasing an additional 2,160 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In related news, insider Rohit Grover sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total transaction of $791,245.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 34,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,814,787.76. The trade was a 9.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jason Reiman sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total value of $452,140.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 41,036 shares in the company, valued at $9,277,008.52. The trade was a 4.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 10,000 shares of company stock worth $2,195,945 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on HSY shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Mizuho lifted their target price on Hershey from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $222.68.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of HSY stock opened at $213.43 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $215.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $195.39. Hershey Company has a one year low of $150.04 and a one year high of $239.48. The stock has a market cap of $43.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 7.55% and a return on equity of 27.90%. Hershey’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.69 EPS. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.200-8.520 EPS. As a group, equities 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 2.7%. This is a boost 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 (DPR) is presently 133.64%.

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.