Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Grows Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,548 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,802 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $7,925,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 1,537.5% during the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Hershey in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Hershey in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in Hershey during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Hershey during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Hershey

Here are the key news stories impacting Hershey this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Hershey announced it will revert to the original Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups recipe after consumer and family backlash—good PR and likely to calm a high?profile brand risk. Hershey’s brings back original Reese’s recipe
• Positive Sentiment: Investors welcomed the company reaffirming its FY2026 outlook at investor day, which supports near?term earnings cadence and helped initial buying interest. Hershey stock eyes rebound after reaffirming 2026 outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Management laid out a multi?year strategy to “lead next?generation snacking” (salty and better?for?you categories, supply?chain modernization). These are positive strategically but are longer?term execution stories that may not immediately move the needle. Hershey Unveils Strategy to Lead Next Generation Snacking
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor day produced detailed commentary and an analyst transcript for review—useful for modeling but will take time to translate into forecast changes. Analyst/Investor Day Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts reacted by trimming expectations: UBS cut its price target to $215 and moved to Neutral, and Deutsche Bank lowered its expectations—pressure on sentiment and near?term technicals. UBS lowers HSY price target
• Negative Sentiment: Market action shows selling pressure: the stock is trading down on higher-than-average volume after the investor day, suggesting some profit-taking given HSY’s rich valuation (high P/E). Hershey (HSY) Stock Dips While Market Gains
• Negative Sentiment: Management flagged that the broader recovery will take time—investors may be discounting longer timelines for margin recovery as cocoa and input dynamics normalize. Hershey outlook flags longer-term recovery

Hershey Trading Down 2.4%

Hershey stock opened at $202.80 on Thursday. 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 $239.48. The stock has a market cap of $41.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.73, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $216.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $195.87.

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

Hershey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a dividend of $1.452 per share. This is a boost from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.37. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 133.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on HSY. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Hershey from $238.00 to $247.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Hershey from $185.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $185.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $222.21.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In related news, insider Rohit Grover sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total value of $791,245.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 34,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,814,787.76. This represents a 9.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jason Reiman sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total transaction of $452,140.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 41,036 shares in the company, valued at $9,277,008.52. This represents a 4.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,195,945. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.