Farther Finance Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 3.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,109 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,512,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 356,249 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Hershey by 25.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,753,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $470,858,000 after acquiring an additional 557,056 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Hershey by 0.8% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,590,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,092,000 after acquiring an additional 11,946 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its stake in Hershey by 40.4% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,237,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,227,000 after acquiring an additional 356,105 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Hershey by 1.7% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,020,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,536,000 after buying an additional 17,311 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $222.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Hershey in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $187.00 price objective for the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Hershey from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. BNP Paribas Exane raised Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Hershey from $135.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $173.89.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other Hershey news, insider Rohit Grover sold 1,334 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider directly owned 38,068 shares in the company, valued at $6,852,240. The trade was a 3.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.12, for a total value of $283,680.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 58,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,029,289.28. This represents a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 87,627 shares of company stock valued at $16,043,435. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $190.72 on Wednesday. Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $140.13 and a 1-year high of $208.03. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $183.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $172.34. The company has a market capitalization of $38.66 billion, a PE ratio of 25.33, a PEG ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.23. Hershey had a return on equity of 37.36% and a net margin of 13.54%.The company had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.27 EPS. Hershey’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.809-5.997 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 72.78%.

Hershey Company 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.