Varenne Capital Partners Takes $22.28 Million Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Varenne Capital Partners purchased a new position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 127,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,283,000. Hershey accounts for 3.7% of Varenne Capital Partners’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Reflection Asset Management bought a new stake in Hershey during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new stake in Hershey during the second quarter worth about $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hershey in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hershey during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on HSY shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $201.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, July 31st. Evercore set a $225.00 price objective on Hershey in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. DA Davidson set a $190.00 price objective on Hershey in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $190.00 target price on Hershey in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Hershey from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hershey currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $204.78.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $255,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 53,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,043,150. The trade was a 2.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $173.26 on Monday. Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $161.43 and a fifty-two week high of $239.48. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $178.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $192.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market cap of $34.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.11.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.63 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 31.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.21 EPS. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.360-8.520 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $1.452 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 79.37%.

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.