Quantitative Investment Management LLC Takes Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Quantitative Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 18,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,212,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators bought a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,633,000. Prudential PLC lifted its stake in Hershey by 237.3% during the fourth quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 7,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,454,000 after purchasing an additional 5,620 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Hershey in the fourth quarter worth $2,744,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in Hershey by 126.4% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 84,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,508,000 after purchasing an additional 47,017 shares during the period. Finally, Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter worth $23,675,000. 57.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Performance

HSY opened at $179.34 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $36.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.11. 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 Company has a 1-year low of $161.43 and a 1-year high of $239.48. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $179.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.29.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.63 billion. During the same period last year, the firm 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. Research analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a $1.452 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Hershey’s payout ratio is 79.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on HSY shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Hershey from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Mizuho dropped their price target on Hershey from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Barclays cut their price target on Hershey from $208.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Hershey from $249.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hershey presently 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.