Excalibur Management Corp Grows Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Excalibur Management Corp grew its stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 41.7% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,899 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 559 shares during the period. Excalibur Management Corp’s holdings in Hershey were worth $315,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HSY. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Hershey by 6,721.3% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 819,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $140,150,000 after acquiring an additional 807,433 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 25.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,753,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,858,000 after purchasing an additional 557,056 shares during the period. Scharf Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the second quarter worth about $90,588,000. Equity Investment Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey during the second quarter worth about $73,706,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Hershey by 7.7% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,991,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $853,720,000 after buying an additional 356,249 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hershey Stock Down 1.2%

HSY opened at $167.80 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $185.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $175.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.28, a PEG ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.24. Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $140.13 and a fifty-two week high of $208.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.53.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.11 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 37.36% and a net margin of 13.54%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.34 EPS. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.900-6.000 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on HSY shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Hershey from $187.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Hershey from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $170.00 to $222.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a “mixed” rating and set a $184.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Hershey from $204.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hershey has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $179.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.52, for a total transaction of $281,280.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 56,819 shares in the company, valued at $10,654,698.88. This trade represents a 2.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hershey Company Profile

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.