GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC Sells 3,057 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC trimmed its stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 5.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 56,746 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,057 shares during the quarter. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $10,614,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its position in Hershey by 1,537.5% during the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 131 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH bought a new position in Hershey in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Hershey during the second quarter worth $31,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 46.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 199 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Hershey during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on HSY. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Hershey from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $213.00 price objective on Hershey and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $187.32.

Hershey Stock Performance

NYSE HSY opened at $193.21 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $182.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $182.15. The firm has a market cap of $39.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.88 and a beta of 0.18. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.24. Hershey had a net margin of 11.84% and a return on equity of 32.08%. The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.34 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th were paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 81.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hershey news, insider Stacy Taffet purchased 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $186.19 per share, with a total value of $37,238.00. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 9,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,744,786.49. The trade was a 2.18% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kirk Tanner purchased 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $185.46 per share, for a total transaction of $370,920.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 47,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,876,115.60. This represents a 4.36% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 6,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,102,725. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

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.