GSA Capital Partners LLP Invests $426,000 in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 2,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $426,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of HSY. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 worth $3,126,594,000 after purchasing an additional 210,131 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Hershey by 2.5% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,116,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $849,123,000 after buying an additional 125,100 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Hershey by 2.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,567,373 shares of the company’s stock worth $755,305,000 after buying an additional 126,519 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Hershey by 4.6% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,276,326 shares of the company’s stock worth $543,712,000 after buying an additional 144,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Hershey by 2.1% in 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 buying an additional 29,462 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on HSY. DA Davidson set a $243.00 price target on Hershey in a report on Friday, February 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $185.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley set a $238.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, February 6th. Argus upgraded shares of Hershey to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $222.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.66, for a total transaction of $329,490.00. Following the sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders sold 4,500 shares of company stock valued at $910,260. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Price Performance

Hershey stock opened at $229.69 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $200.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $189.43. 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 Company has a 1 year low of $150.04 and a 1 year high of $234.87. The company has a market capitalization of $46.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.18.

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

Hershey Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.452 per share. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.37. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 133.87%.

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.