LaFleur & Godfrey LLC Sells 19,299 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

LaFleur & Godfrey LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 47.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,667 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,299 shares during the quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $4,053,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HSY. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the second quarter worth about $234,386,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Hershey during the 2nd quarter valued at about $125,868,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Hershey by 121.2% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,104,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,559,000 after purchasing an additional 605,048 shares in the last quarter. Equity Investment Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the second quarter worth approximately $73,706,000. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 44.7% in the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,232,595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,549,000 after purchasing an additional 380,512 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HSY. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Hershey from $195.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Hershey from $182.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hershey from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $238.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $218.74.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.66, for a total value of $329,490.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 50,819 shares in the company, valued at $11,162,901.54. This represents a 2.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,500 shares of company stock worth $910,260. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $221.48 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.18. The company’s 50-day moving average is $198.21 and its 200 day moving average is $188.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.19. Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $150.04 and a fifty-two week high of $234.87.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.31. Hershey had a net margin of 7.55% and a return on equity of 27.90%. The business had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.200-8.520 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.452 per share. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This is a boost from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.37. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 133.87%.

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.