AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs Acquires Shares of 6,219 Hershey Company (The) $HSY

AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs bought a new stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $999,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 18,311.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,010,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,728,460,000 after buying an additional 1,005,127 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Hershey by 6,721.3% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 819,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $140,150,000 after purchasing an additional 807,433 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 25.4% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,753,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,858,000 after purchasing an additional 557,056 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 38.6% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,628,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $275,710,000 after purchasing an additional 453,428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Hershey by 7.7% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,991,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $853,720,000 after purchasing an additional 356,249 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Rohit Grover sold 1,334 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $240,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,852,240. The trade was a 3.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP James Turoff sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $227,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 25,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,431,175. This trade represents a 4.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 86,127 shares of company stock worth $15,759,755. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of HSY opened at $184.95 on Monday. Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $140.13 and a 12 month high of $208.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $180.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $171.70. The company has a market cap of $37.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.56, a PEG ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.27.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 13.54% and a return on equity of 37.36%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.27 earnings per share. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.809-5.997 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HSY has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Hershey from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Bank of America boosted their price target on Hershey from $175.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho raised their price objective on Hershey from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Hershey from $171.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Hershey from $135.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $171.22.

Hershey Profile

The Hershey Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of confectionery products and pantry items in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: North America Confectionery, North America Salty Snacks, and International. It offers chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery products; gum and mint refreshment products, including mints, chewing gums, and bubble gums; protein bars; pantry items, such as baking ingredients, toppings, beverages, and sundae syrups; and snack items comprising spreads, bars, snack bites, mixes, popcorn, and pretzels.