Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Purchases New Holdings in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 22,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,033,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Reflection Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of Hershey in the second quarter worth $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hershey in the third quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $255,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 53,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,043,150. This trade represents a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hershey Stock Down 0.1%

Hershey stock opened at $186.27 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.18. Hershey Company has a one year low of $161.43 and a one year high of $239.48. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $178.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $195.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.11.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.360-8.520 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid 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%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on HSY. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $249.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Hershey from $190.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. TD Cowen raised shares of Hershey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. DA Davidson set a $190.00 price target on Hershey in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $190.00 price objective on Hershey in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $204.78.

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.