Hershey Company (The) $HSY Shares Acquired by Osaic Holdings Inc.

Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 23.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,095 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 11,223 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $9,818,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in HSY. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH bought a new position in shares of Hershey in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Hershey in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its position in Hershey by 46.3% in the second quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 199 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Hershey during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hershey during the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on HSY shares. Evercore ISI restated a “positive” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $195.00 to $211.00 in a research report on Monday, December 15th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Hershey from $187.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Hershey from $204.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $184.95.

Hershey Price Performance

HSY stock opened at $189.40 on Friday. Hershey Company has a one year low of $140.13 and a one year high of $199.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $181.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $180.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.41 billion, a PE ratio of 28.31 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.11 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 11.84% and a return on equity of 32.08%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.34 earnings per share. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.900-6.000 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th were given a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.91%.

Insider Activity

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.51, for a total transaction of $282,765.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 53,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,145,419.69. This trade represents a 2.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kirk Tanner bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $185.46 per share, for a total transaction of $370,920.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 47,860 shares in the company, valued at $8,876,115.60. This trade represents a 4.36% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 6,000 shares of company stock worth $1,102,725. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.