ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd Has $2.73 Million Stock Holdings in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 421.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,600 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,800 shares during the period. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd’s holdings in Hershey were worth $2,731,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of HSY. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Hershey by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,840,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,126,594,000 after buying an additional 210,131 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 2.5% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,116,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $849,123,000 after acquiring an additional 125,100 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,567,373 shares of the company’s stock valued at $755,305,000 after purchasing an additional 126,519 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,276,326 shares of the company’s stock worth $543,712,000 after purchasing an additional 144,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Hershey by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,420,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $235,731,000 after purchasing an additional 29,462 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.66, for a total value of $329,490.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 50,819 shares in the company, valued at $11,162,901.54. This represents a 2.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 4,500 shares of company stock worth $910,260 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of HSY opened at $219.93 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $197.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $188.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.68, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.18. Hershey Company has a 52 week low of $150.04 and a 52 week high of $234.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.19.

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

Hershey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a $1.452 dividend. This is a boost from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Hershey’s payout ratio is 133.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HSY has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective 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. Stephens increased their price target on Hershey from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Hershey from $182.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hershey presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $218.74.

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.