Hershey Company (The) $HSY Holdings Trimmed by Toth Financial Advisory Corp

Toth Financial Advisory Corp lowered its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 25.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,267 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,245 shares during the quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp’s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,461,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HSY. Venture Visionary Partners LLC lifted its position in Hershey by 2.1% in the third quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 4,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $768,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Investors Research Corp acquired a new position in Hershey during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $445,000. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in Hershey by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 30,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,814,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 75.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 526 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CapWealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC now owns 57,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,023,000 after buying an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Steven Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The shares were 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 represents a 2.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on HSY shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Hershey from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. DA Davidson set a $190.00 price objective on Hershey in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $191.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, July 31st. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $203.67.

Hershey Price Performance

Hershey stock traded up $2.37 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $162.71. The stock had a trading volume of 314,449 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,854,887. Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $156.16 and a 1-year high of $239.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.27, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $174.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $183.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

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

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $1.4520 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.37%.

About Hershey

The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is a global confectionery and snack food company headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Founded by Milton S. Hershey in 1894, the company began as a chocolate manufacturer and has grown into one of the largest producers of confectionery products in North America.

Hershey’s portfolio includes chocolate, candy, gum, mints, protein bars and salty snacks. Its well-known brands include Hershey’s, Reese’s, Kisses, Kit Kat, Jolly Rancher, Twizzlers, Ice Breakers, SkinnyPop and Dot’s.