Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Makes New $3.79 Million Investment in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI purchased a new stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 21,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,789,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at $9,633,000. Prudential PLC boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 237.3% in the fourth quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 7,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,454,000 after buying an additional 5,620 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter valued at $2,744,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 126.4% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 84,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,508,000 after buying an additional 47,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension acquired a new position in Hershey during the fourth quarter valued at $23,675,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HSY has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Hershey from $215.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Hershey from $249.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Hershey from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hershey currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $203.61.

Hershey Price Performance

HSY opened at $181.17 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $177.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $195.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $161.43 and a 1 year high of $239.48. The stock has a market cap of $36.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.75, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.11.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.47. Hershey had a return on equity of 31.92% and a net margin of 12.24%.The company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.360-8.520 EPS. Analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $1.452 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $255,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 53,195 shares in the company, valued at $9,043,150. The trade was a 2.74% 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. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hershey 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.