Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. Grows Stake in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 25.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 24,418 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,903 shares during the period. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $4,444,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HSY. State Street Corp grew its stake in Hershey by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,253,041 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,356,681,000 after buying an additional 128,982 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Hershey by 1.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,614,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,947,000 after buying an additional 29,731 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Hershey by 6.7% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,605,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $300,333,000 after buying an additional 101,305 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Hershey by 3.7% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,473,427 shares of the company’s stock worth $275,605,000 after acquiring an additional 52,936 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Hershey in the second quarter worth about $234,386,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on HSY shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $188.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Hershey from $185.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $222.68.

Hershey Trading Down 3.1%

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $210.26 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $150.04 and a 52-week high of $239.48. The stock has a market cap of $42.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.45, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.14. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $215.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $195.16.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.31. Hershey had a return on equity of 27.90% and a net margin of 7.55%.The firm had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.69 earnings per share. Hershey’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.200-8.520 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a $1.452 dividend. This is an increase from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 133.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Rohit Grover sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total value of $791,245.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 34,568 shares in the company, valued at $7,814,787.76. This represents a 9.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jason Reiman sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total transaction of $452,140.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 41,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,277,008.52. This trade represents a 4.65% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 10,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,195,945 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.34% 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.