Ninety One UK Ltd Acquires 3,247 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Ninety One UK Ltd bought a new position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $512,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in HSY. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hershey during the 2nd quarter worth $2,303,889,000. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Hershey in the 2nd quarter worth about $485,436,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Hershey in the 2nd quarter worth about $274,871,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Hershey by 150.1% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,278,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,731,000 after acquiring an additional 767,478 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Hershey by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,210,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,706,000 after acquiring an additional 19,772 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hershey Stock Performance

NYSE:HSY opened at $168.70 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $173.16 and its 200 day moving average is $181.27. The firm has a market cap of $33.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.05, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.18. Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $156.16 and a 52-week high of $239.48.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 31.92% and a net margin of 12.24%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.360-8.520 EPS. Research analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a $1.4520 dividend. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on HSY shares. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $178.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Hershey from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Hershey from $208.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group set a $178.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $191.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $200.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Steven Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $255,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 53,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,043,150. This represents a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Company Profile

The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is a global confectionery and snack food company headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Founded by Milton S. Hershey in 1894, the company began as a chocolate manufacturer and has grown into one of the largest producers of confectionery products in North America.

Hershey’s portfolio includes chocolate, candy, gum, mints, protein bars and salty snacks. Its well-known brands include Hershey’s, Reese’s, Kisses, Kit Kat, Jolly Rancher, Twizzlers, Ice Breakers, SkinnyPop and Dot’s.