Pacer Advisors Inc. Trims Holdings in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Pacer Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 98.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 12,802 shares of the company’s stock after selling 802,586 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $2,395,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Choreo LLC increased its stake in Hershey by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 1,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $283,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. grew its position in Hershey by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 1,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in Hershey by 12.3% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC increased its position in Hershey by 46.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 199 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Optivise Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Hershey by 5.1% in the second quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Hershey from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Bank of America increased their target price on Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays set a $188.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $184.95.

Hershey Stock Up 0.8%

HSY stock opened at $182.26 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $140.13 and a fifty-two week high of $199.00. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $180.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $181.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.24 and a beta of 0.19.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.24. Hershey had a net margin of 11.84% and a return on equity of 32.08%. The business had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.34 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.900-6.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were issued a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 81.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.51, for a total transaction of $282,765.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 53,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,145,419.69. The trade was a 2.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kirk Tanner purchased 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were bought at an average price of $185.46 per share, with a total value of $370,920.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 47,860 shares in the company, valued at $8,876,115.60. The trade was a 4.36% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 6,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,102,725. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.