Hilltop Holdings Inc. Acquires 11,988 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Hilltop Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 437.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,729 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,988 shares during the quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $2,755,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP acquired a new position in shares of Hershey during the third quarter worth approximately $1,497,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 55.0% in the third quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 3,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $565,000 after purchasing an additional 1,071 shares in the last quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the third quarter valued at approximately $284,000. Candlestick Capital Management LP bought a new position in Hershey in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $64,469,000. Finally, Cinctive Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Hershey during the 3rd quarter worth $1,049,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.66, for a total transaction of $329,490.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 50,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,162,901.54. This trade represents a 2.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Rohit Grover sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total transaction of $791,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 34,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,814,787.76. This trade represents a 9.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 10,000 shares of company stock worth $2,153,645. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Hershey

Here are the key news stories impacting Hershey this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 outperformance and continuing guidance support: Analysts and sector write-ups highlighted Hershey’s strong Q4 performance within the shelf-stable foods group (revenue and EPS beats and FY26 guidance noted earlier this season), which underpins the bullish sentiment. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade/price-target lift: Morgan Stanley raised Hershey’s price target (reported coverage) and has a more constructive stance, increasing upside expectations — a direct catalyst for buying interest. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Commodity tailwind for margins: Morgan Stanley’s sector note boosting Mondelez to top pick cites cocoa deflation — the same cocoa-price trend benefits Hershey by easing input-cost pressure and improving margin outlook across the industry. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic portfolio repositioning: Hershey began operating under a unified sweet/salty/protein portfolio structure aimed at clearer go-to-market focus and growth across faster segments — investors view this as supportive for organic growth and cross-selling. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Sustainability / supply-chain collaboration: Hershey joined competitors on the TogetherCocoa initiative, a cooperative effort to address cocoa supply-chain resilience and sustainability — positive for long-term ingredient security and ESG positioning. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Operational streamlining in the U.S.: Company plans to streamline U.S. businesses (potentially lowering costs), but details on charges, savings and timelines are limited — a watch item for near-term restructuring costs vs. long-term savings. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Defensive dividend narrative: Coverage labeling Hershey a “dividend monster” reinforces its defensive, income-oriented appeal to investors but is unlikely to trigger large re-ratings by itself. Read More.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho increased their price objective on Hershey from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Bank of America raised their price target on Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Stephens boosted their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $188.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $222.68.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of HSY opened at $219.92 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $44.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.14. Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $150.04 and a 1 year high of $239.48. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $211.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $193.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $3.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 27.90% and a net margin of 7.55%.Hershey’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.69 EPS. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.200-8.520 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a $1.452 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This is a boost from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.37. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 133.87%.

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.