ING Groep NV Makes New $7.30 Million Investment in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

ING Groep NV purchased a new position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 39,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,302,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Hershey in the second quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Liberty One Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Hershey by 32.4% in the 3rd quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 38,076 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,122,000 after purchasing an additional 9,309 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Hershey by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 58,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,695,000 after purchasing an additional 2,659 shares during the period. CORDA Investment Management LLC. grew its position in shares of Hershey by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. now owns 113,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,276,000 after purchasing an additional 7,064 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 6.4% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 42,538 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,957,000 after purchasing an additional 2,573 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hershey Stock Performance

NYSE:HSY opened at $226.28 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $193.39 and a 200 day moving average of $187.15. The company has a market capitalization of $45.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.14, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.18. Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $150.04 and a 1-year high of $234.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 7.55% and a return on equity of 27.90%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.69 earnings per share. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.200-8.520 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a $1.452 dividend. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This is a boost from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.37. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 126.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, CEO Kirk Tanner purchased 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $185.46 per share, for a total transaction of $370,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 47,860 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,876,115.60. This represents a 4.36% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Stacy Taffet acquired 200 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $186.19 per share, for a total transaction of $37,238.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 9,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,744,786.49. The trade was a 2.18% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 6,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,119,450 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler set a $213.00 price objective on Hershey and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Zacks Research upgraded Hershey from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Hershey from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $220.30.

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.