Willis Investment Counsel Has $32.86 Million Stake in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Willis Investment Counsel lifted its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 180,544 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,766 shares during the period. Hershey comprises approximately 1.7% of Willis Investment Counsel’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Hershey were worth $32,855,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of HSY. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $559,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Bellevue Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 13.5% in the third quarter. Bellevue Asset Management LLC now owns 514 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 8.4% in the third quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 798 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadcap Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.0% in the third quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,427 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,202,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on HSY. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, February 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, February 6th. Zacks Research cut shares of Hershey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Stephens raised their target price on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $222.21.

Hershey Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $208.82 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $217.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $196.47. Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $150.04 and a 1 year high of $239.48. The stock has a market cap of $42.33 billion, a PE ratio of 48.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.18.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $1.71 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $3.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.200-8.520 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors 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. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 133.87%.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In related news, SVP Jason Reiman sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 41,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,277,008.52. This trade represents a 4.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Rohit Grover sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total transaction of $791,245.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 34,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,814,787.76. This represents a 9.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,000 shares of company stock worth $2,195,945. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hershey Company 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.