Sanctuary Advisors LLC Invests $4.72 Million in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 26,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,716,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Syon Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 3,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $550,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Haverford Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 6,796 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,237,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Hershey by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,561 shares of the company’s stock worth $466,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC grew its position in Hershey by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 8,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,462,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its position in Hershey by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,325 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HSY has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $240.00 price target on Hershey in a report on Friday, May 1st. Mizuho decreased their target price on Hershey from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $201.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, July 31st. DA Davidson set a $190.00 price target on Hershey in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Hershey from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $204.78.

Hershey Stock Up 1.9%

HSY stock opened at $189.92 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $178.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $195.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.95, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.11. Hershey Company has a one year low of $161.43 and a one year high of $239.48.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.63 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 31.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.360-8.520 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $1.452 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Hershey’s payout ratio is 79.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $255,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 53,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,043,150. The trade was a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.