Cetera Investment Advisers Boosts Holdings in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 2.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 78,035 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,644 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Hershey were worth $12,950,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HSY. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hershey during the first quarter worth $55,269,000. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 39.7% during the first quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,857,000 after purchasing an additional 3,087 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA increased its holdings in Hershey by 106.1% in the first quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA now owns 145,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,745,000 after buying an additional 74,894 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC raised its stake in Hershey by 694.5% in the first quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 16,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,782,000 after buying an additional 14,217 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $182.47 on Thursday. Hershey Company has a one year low of $140.13 and a one year high of $208.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.23, a PEG ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $183.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.73. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.11 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 37.36% and a net margin of 13.54%.The business’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.34 earnings per share. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.900-6.000 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 81.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on HSY shares. Piper Sandler raised Hershey from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $167.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Hershey from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Hershey from $154.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Hershey from $155.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $179.05.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.56, for a total transaction of $269,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 55,319 shares in the company, valued at $9,933,079.64. This represents a 2.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 6,000 shares of company stock worth $1,103,640 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.