Hershey Company (The) $HSY Position Boosted by WINTON GROUP Ltd

WINTON GROUP Ltd lifted its holdings in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 175.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,200 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,491 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,790,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in HSY. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Reflection Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hershey in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Hershey in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on HSY shares. DA Davidson set a $190.00 target price on Hershey in a report on Friday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $201.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, July 31st. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $190.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Hershey from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $204.78.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of HSY opened at $173.30 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $34.82 billion, a PE ratio of 23.67, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.18. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $178.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $191.06. Hershey Company has a 52 week low of $161.43 and a 52 week high of $239.48.

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

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $1.452 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Hershey’s payout ratio is 79.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $255,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Hershey

The Hershey Company is a global confectionery and snack manufacturer headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Its portfolio includes chocolate, non-chocolate confectionery, salty snacks and pantry products sold under brands such as Hershey’s, Reese’s, Kit Kat, Jolly Rancher, Twizzlers, Ice Breakers, SkinnyPop and Dot’s.

Milton S. Hershey founded the company in 1894, and its milk chocolate business helped establish Hershey, Pennsylvania, as a center of American chocolate production. The company has expanded beyond its original chocolate offerings through product development, licensing arrangements and acquisitions in the confectionery and snack categories.

Hershey serves consumers primarily in the United States and Canada and markets its products internationally through retail, e-commerce and other distribution channels.