Hershey Company (The) $HSY Shares Acquired by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 1,774.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 62,867 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 59,513 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $11,441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in HSY. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,618,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in Hershey in the second quarter worth approximately $443,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its position in Hershey by 3.1% in the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 13,086 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,172,000 after buying an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.7% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 136,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,601,000 after buying an additional 2,252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $213.43 on Friday. Hershey Company has a 12-month low of $150.04 and a 12-month high of $239.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $215.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $195.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.18, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.14.

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

Hershey Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a dividend of $1.452 per share. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. This is a boost from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 133.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.71, for a total transaction of $325,065.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,869 shares in the company, valued at $12,974,210.99. The trade was a 2.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Rohit Grover sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 34,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,814,787.76. This trade represents a 9.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 10,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,195,945 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HSY has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Hershey from $238.00 to $247.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. 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 report on Monday, February 2nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $188.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hershey presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $222.68.

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.