Prudential Financial Inc. Has $14.18 Million Holdings in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

by · The Markets Daily

Prudential Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY – Free Report) by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 85,443 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,228 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $14,179,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in Hershey in the second quarter valued at about $224,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Hershey in the first quarter valued at approximately $55,269,000. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 39.7% in the 1st quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,857,000 after acquiring an additional 3,087 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 106.1% in the 1st quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA now owns 145,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,745,000 after acquiring an additional 74,894 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC grew its position in Hershey by 694.5% during the 1st quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 16,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,782,000 after acquiring an additional 14,217 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on HSY. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Hershey from $187.00 to $189.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. Barclays set a $188.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Hershey from $154.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $179.74.

View Our Latest Report on HSY

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other news, insider Stacy Taffet purchased 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $186.19 per share, for a total transaction of $37,238.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,744,786.49. The trade was a 2.18% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kirk Tanner acquired 2,000 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $185.46 per share, for a total transaction of $370,920.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 47,860 shares in the company, valued at $8,876,115.60. The trade was a 4.36% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 6,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,103,640. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hershey Trading Up 0.9%

HSY opened at $188.39 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $183.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.31. Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $140.13 and a fifty-two week high of $208.03. The company has a market cap of $38.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.11 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 13.54% and a return on equity of 37.36%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.34 EPS. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.900-6.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.91%.

About Hershey

(Free Report)

The Hershey Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of confectionery products and pantry items in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: North America Confectionery, North America Salty Snacks, and International. It offers chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery products; gum and mint refreshment products, including mints, chewing gums, and bubble gums; protein bars; pantry items, such as baking ingredients, toppings, beverages, and sundae syrups; and snack items comprising spreads, bars, snack bites, mixes, popcorn, and pretzels.

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