363,353 Shares in Hershey Company (The) $HSY Bought by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 363,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,751,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Hershey in the 2nd quarter worth $228,000. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,740,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. AMG National Trust Bank purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the second quarter valued at about $3,651,000. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC bought a new position in Hershey in the second quarter worth about $368,000. 57.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $255,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 53,195 shares in the company, valued at $9,043,150. This represents a 2.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on HSY. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, May 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $201.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, July 31st. Mizuho decreased their target price on Hershey from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. DA Davidson set a $190.00 target price on Hershey in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Hershey from $247.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $203.61.

Hershey Trading Up 3.0%

Shares of NYSE HSY opened at $189.04 on Thursday. Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $161.43 and a 1 year high of $239.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $178.15 and a 200 day moving average of $195.61. The stock has a market cap of $37.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.11.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.47. Hershey had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 31.92%. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. 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. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a $1.452 dividend. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 79.37%.

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.