Allstate Corp Buys New Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Allstate Corp purchased a new position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 5,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,001,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HSY. Choreo LLC increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 1,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Hershey by 12.3% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Hershey by 46.3% during the second quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Optivise Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Hershey by 5.1% in the second quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RKL Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.0% in the second quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,155,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HSY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. 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. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Hershey from $204.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Hershey from $187.00 to $189.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Argus upgraded shares of Hershey to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Hershey from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hershey presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $189.53.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kirk Tanner acquired 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 47,860 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,876,115.60. This trade represents a 4.36% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Stacy Taffet acquired 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $186.19 per share, with a total value of $37,238.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 4,500 shares of company stock worth $821,445. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hershey Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of HSY opened at $196.02 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.30 and a beta of 0.18. Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $140.13 and a 1 year high of $201.86. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $185.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $183.34.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion during 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%. Hershey’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.34 earnings per share. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.900-6.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Hershey’s payout ratio is 81.91%.

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.