QRG Capital Management Inc. Has $834,000 Stock Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

QRG Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 41.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,457 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,149 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $834,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Hershey by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,618,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 3.4% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 9,109 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,512,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in Hershey by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 7,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Hershey by 26.1% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,236,000 after purchasing an additional 1,541 shares during the period. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its holdings in Hershey by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 1,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HSY has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Hershey in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. They set a “hold” rating and a $181.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $204.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Hershey to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $189.53.

Hershey Trading Down 1.4%

HSY stock opened at $196.02 on Thursday. Hershey Company has a 52 week low of $140.13 and a 52 week high of $201.86. The company has a market capitalization of $39.75 billion, a PE ratio of 29.30 and a beta of 0.18. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $185.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $183.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.36.

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

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were issued a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 81.91%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kirk Tanner acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $185.46 per share, with a total value of $370,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 47,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,876,115.60. This trade represents a 4.36% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Stacy Taffet bought 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $186.19 per share, for a total transaction of $37,238.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 9,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,744,786.49. This trade represents a 2.18% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 4,500 shares of company stock worth $821,445. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Hershey

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.