Hershey Company (The) $HSY Position Trimmed by Somerset Trust Co

Somerset Trust Co trimmed its stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 2.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,637 shares of the company’s stock after selling 82 shares during the quarter. Somerset Trust Co’s holdings in Hershey were worth $604,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Proffitt & Goodson Inc. acquired a new position in Hershey in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 129.5% during the 1st quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fort Vancouver Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $900,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 61,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,037,420. This trade represents a 7.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP James Turoff sold 1,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $227,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 25,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,431,175. This represents a 4.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 86,127 shares of company stock worth $15,759,755 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on HSY. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Hershey from $135.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Hershey from $160.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Hershey from $173.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on Hershey from $171.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $171.22.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $184.95 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $37.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.56, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 0.27. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $180.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $171.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Hershey Company has a twelve month low of $140.13 and a twelve month high of $208.03.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 37.36% and a net margin of 13.54%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.27 earnings per share. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.809-5.997 EPS. Research analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.78%.

About Hershey

The Hershey Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of confectionery products and pantry items in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: North America Confectionery, North America Salty Snacks, and International. It offers chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery products; gum and mint refreshment products, including mints, chewing gums, and bubble gums; protein bars; pantry items, such as baking ingredients, toppings, beverages, and sundae syrups; and snack items comprising spreads, bars, snack bites, mixes, popcorn, and pretzels.