Colonial Trust Co SC Has $1.25 Million Stock Holdings in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Colonial Trust Co SC lowered its stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 28.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,683 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,717 shares during the quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HSY. Choreo LLC grew its stake in Hershey by 3.6% in the second quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 1,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $283,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Bellevue Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bellevue Asset Management LLC now owns 514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 12.3% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its holdings in Hershey by 8.4% during the third quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 798 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC raised its position in Hershey by 46.3% during the second quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 199 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HSY has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley set a $238.00 price target on Hershey in a report on Friday, February 6th. Stephens upped their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. DA Davidson set a $243.00 price objective on Hershey in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Hershey from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $218.74.

Hershey Stock Performance

HSY opened at $226.38 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $198.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $188.82. Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $150.04 and a 1 year high of $234.87. The company has a market capitalization of $45.91 billion, a PE ratio of 52.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.18.

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

Hershey Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.66, for a total transaction of $329,490.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 50,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,162,901.54. This trade represents a 2.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,500 shares of company stock worth $910,260. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

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.