Willis Investment Counsel Purchases 2,766 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Willis Investment Counsel lifted its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 180,544 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,766 shares during the period. Hershey accounts for approximately 1.7% of Willis Investment Counsel’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Willis Investment Counsel owned approximately 0.09% of Hershey worth $32,855,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Liberty One Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 32.4% during the third quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 38,076 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,122,000 after purchasing an additional 9,309 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 166.8% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 39,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,332,000 after purchasing an additional 24,509 shares during the period. CORDA Investment Management LLC. increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 6.6% during the third quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. now owns 113,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,276,000 after purchasing an additional 7,064 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 6.4% during the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 42,538 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,957,000 after purchasing an additional 2,573 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 9.4% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 60,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,406,000 after purchasing an additional 5,239 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HSY. Barclays increased their target price on Hershey from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Zacks Research lowered Hershey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Hershey from $212.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $222.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other Hershey news, insider Rohit Grover sold 3,500 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 value of $791,245.00. Following the sale, the insider 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.71, for a total value of $325,065.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,974,210.99. This represents a 2.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,195,945. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hershey Price Performance

Hershey stock opened at $208.82 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $217.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $196.47. Hershey Company has a one year low of $150.04 and a one year high of $239.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $42.33 billion, a PE ratio of 48.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.18.

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

Hershey Increases Dividend

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

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.