Moran Wealth Management LLC Boosts Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Moran Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 91,757 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,338 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $17,163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. CX Institutional lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $581,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in Hershey by 402.4% in the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 35,519 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,644,000 after purchasing an additional 28,449 shares during the period. Rheos Capital Works Inc. raised its position in Hershey by 45.5% in the third quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 224,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,899,000 after purchasing an additional 70,000 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 36.7% during the third quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 3,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $574,000 after purchasing an additional 824 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gries Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 8.3% in the third quarter. Gries Financial LLC now owns 14,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,690,000 after buying an additional 1,108 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Up 0.4%

HSY stock opened at $180.03 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $180.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $181.66. The company has a market capitalization of $36.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.91 and a beta of 0.18. Hershey Company has a twelve month low of $140.13 and a twelve month high of $199.00.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 11.84% and a return on equity of 32.08%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.34 EPS. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.900-6.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th were issued a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 81.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.51, for a total transaction of $282,765.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 53,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,145,419.69. This represents a 2.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stacy Taffet acquired 200 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $186.19 per share, for a total transaction of $37,238.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 9,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,744,786.49. The trade was a 2.18% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 6,000 shares of company stock worth $1,102,725 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HSY has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Hershey from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $187.00 to $189.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $211.00 in a research report on Monday, December 15th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Hershey from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $222.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and seventeen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $187.32.

Hershey Profile

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.