V Square Quantitative Management LLC Has $389,000 Stake in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

V Square Quantitative Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 7.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,342 shares of the company’s stock after selling 197 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $389,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. acquired a new position in Hershey in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Hershey by 129.5% in the first quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Fort Vancouver Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Hershey in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Hershey in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in Hershey in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In related news, insider Rohit Grover sold 1,334 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,852,240. This represents a 3.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michele Buck sold 19,290 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $3,472,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 193,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,852,320. This trade represents a 9.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 65,704 shares of company stock valued at $12,206,910. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho boosted their target price on Hershey from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Hershey from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. BNP Paribas Exane raised Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $222.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Hershey from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $174.05.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HSY opened at $188.80 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $185.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $172.84. Hershey Company has a 52 week low of $140.13 and a 52 week high of $208.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.27 billion, a PE ratio of 25.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 0.26.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.27 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.809-5.997 EPS. Analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

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

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.