Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $627,000 Holdings in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 81.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,354 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,432 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $627,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of HSY. Oak Thistle LLC raised its stake in Hershey by 436.5% during the third quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 15,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,815,000 after buying an additional 12,243 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 33.7% in the 3rd quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,104,000 after purchasing an additional 1,487 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 23.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,726,000 after purchasing an additional 1,779 shares during the period. Rydar Equities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 2nd quarter valued at about $441,000. Finally, Caldwell Trust Co acquired a new stake in Hershey during the second quarter worth approximately $290,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.51, for a total transaction of $282,765.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 53,819 shares in the company, valued at $10,145,419.69. The trade was a 2.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Stacy Taffet purchased 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $186.19 per share, for a total transaction of $37,238.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 9,371 shares in the company, valued at $1,744,786.49. The trade was a 2.18% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 6,000 shares of company stock worth $1,102,725. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HSY. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $222.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Hershey in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $181.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $180.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Hershey from $187.00 to $189.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $195.00 to $211.00 in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hershey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $184.95.

Hershey Stock Performance

NYSE HSY opened at $184.65 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $180.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $180.83. The firm has a market cap of $37.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.60 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $140.13 and a 1 year high of $199.00.

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

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.91%.

Hershey 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.