B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Has $2.65 Million Stock Holdings in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG grew its stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 126.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,163 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,900 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in Hershey were worth $2,649,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Hershey by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,618,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 15.8% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 8,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,420,000 after buying an additional 1,165 shares in the last quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in Hershey during the second quarter worth $949,000. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Hershey by 17.5% during the second quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 5,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $888,000 after buying an additional 795 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Trading Down 0.9%

HSY stock opened at $222.86 on Tuesday. 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 $45.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.14. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $207.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $192.42. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. The company’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.69 earnings per share. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.200-8.520 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a $1.452 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. This is an increase from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.37. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 133.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.66, for a total transaction of $329,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 50,819 shares in the company, valued at $11,162,901.54. This trade represents a 2.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Rohit Grover sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total value of $791,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 34,568 shares in the company, valued at $7,814,787.76. The trade was a 9.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 10,000 shares of company stock worth $2,153,645 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on HSY. Argus upgraded shares of Hershey to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. DA Davidson set a $243.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $238.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, February 6th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Hershey from $182.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hershey presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $222.21.

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.