TD Private Client Wealth LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 4,700.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,945 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,717 shares during the quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $2,047,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in Hershey in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Liberty One Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 32.4% in the 3rd quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 38,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,122,000 after buying an additional 9,309 shares during the period. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Hershey during the 2nd quarter worth about $271,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Hershey by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 58,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,695,000 after acquiring an additional 2,659 shares during the period. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its holdings in Hershey by 895.4% during the 2nd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 25,373 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,211,000 after acquiring an additional 22,824 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HSY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Hershey from $187.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $182.00 target price on shares of Hershey and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $195.00 to $211.00 in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated a “positive” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hershey presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $188.37.

Hershey Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $199.16 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $140.13 and a 52-week high of $200.50. The company has a market capitalization of $40.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.77 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a 50 day moving average of $183.21 and a 200 day moving average of $182.46.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 11.84% and a return on equity of 32.08%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.34 EPS. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.900-6.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were paid a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, insider Stacy Taffet bought 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $186.19 per share, for a total transaction of $37,238.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 9,371 shares in the company, valued at $1,744,786.49. This trade represents a 2.18% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kirk Tanner purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $185.46 per share, with a total value of $370,920.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 47,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,876,115.60. This represents a 4.36% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders sold 6,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,102,725 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

About Hershey

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.