Entropy Technologies LP Buys New Holdings in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 6,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,110,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,840,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,126,594,000 after acquiring an additional 210,131 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 356,249 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,567,373 shares of the company’s stock valued at $755,305,000 after buying an additional 126,519 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 25.4% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,753,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,858,000 after buying an additional 557,056 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,590,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $272,092,000 after buying an additional 11,946 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hershey Price Performance

Hershey stock opened at $186.24 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.73, a P/E/G ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.24. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $183.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.96. 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 Company has a 1 year low of $140.13 and a 1 year high of $208.03.

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

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. Hershey’s payout ratio is 81.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HSY has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Hershey from $155.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Hershey from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $175.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hershey has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $179.74.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’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 value of $269,340.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 55,319 shares in the company, valued at $9,933,079.64. This trade represents a 2.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 6,000 shares of company stock worth $1,103,640 over the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.