Hudson Bay Capital Management LP Sells 13,360 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Hudson Bay Capital Management LP decreased its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 35.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,617 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,360 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP’s holdings in Hershey were worth $4,605,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HSY. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Hershey by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,253,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,356,681,000 after acquiring an additional 128,982 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Hershey by 2.5% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,116,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $849,123,000 after buying an additional 125,100 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Hershey by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,276,326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $543,712,000 after acquiring an additional 144,640 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Hershey by 1.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,614,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,947,000 after purchasing an additional 29,731 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,605,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $300,333,000 after buying an additional 101,305 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Hershey from $182.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $185.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $267.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $188.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a report on Thursday, January 29th. One investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $222.68.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of HSY stock opened at $210.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $213.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.42. Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $150.04 and a 52-week high of $239.48. The firm has a market capitalization 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.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.31. Hershey had a net margin of 7.55% and a return on equity of 27.90%. The firm had revenue of $3.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.200-8.520 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is a boost from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 133.87%.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other Hershey news, SVP Jason Reiman sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 4.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Rohit Grover sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $7,814,787.76. This trade represents a 9.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,195,945. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.