110,243 Shares in Hershey Company (The) $HSY Acquired by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP purchased a new stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 110,243 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,342,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Reflection Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc acquired a new position in shares of Hershey in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hershey in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Hershey during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. TD Cowen raised shares of Hershey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $191.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, July 31st. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Hershey from $249.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $240.00 price target on Hershey in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hershey has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $204.78.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $255,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 53,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,043,150. This trade represents a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hershey Trading Down 0.1%

HSY opened at $186.27 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Hershey Company has a twelve month low of $161.43 and a twelve month high of $239.48. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $178.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $195.49.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 31.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.360-8.520 EPS. Analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $1.452 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.37%.

Hershey Company Profile

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.