Hershey (NYSE:HSY) Insider Sells $791,245.00 in Stock

Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) insider Rohit Grover sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total value of $791,245.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 34,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,814,787.76. The trade was a 9.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of Hershey stock traded up $1.71 on Thursday, hitting $231.35. The stock had a trading volume of 1,422,302 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,179,397. The stock has a market cap of $46.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.72 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 $234.87. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $200.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $189.43.

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

Hershey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a $1.452 dividend. This is a boost from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.37. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 133.64%.

Institutional Trading of Hershey

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HSY. BDFS Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Hershey during the fourth quarter worth about $682,000. MidFirst Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter worth approximately $177,000. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 2,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $422,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 4,478.5% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 586,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,666,000 after acquiring an additional 573,339 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC increased its stake in Hershey by 521.1% in the 4th quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 10,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,963,000 after purchasing an additional 9,051 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on HSY shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Hershey from $195.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $188.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Hershey from $185.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $222.21.

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.