V Square Quantitative Management LLC Makes New Investment in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

11 Apr 2026, 11:54 by Sarita Garza · The Markets Daily

V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY – Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $504,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in Hershey by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $559,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Hershey by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Bellevue Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Hershey by 13.5% during the third 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. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its position in shares of Hershey by 8.4% during the third quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadcap Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Hershey by 1.0% during the third quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,427 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,202,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Trading Down 4.0%

HSY stock opened at $202.48 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $218.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $196.64. Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $150.04 and a fifty-two week high of $239.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market cap of $41.04 billion, a PE ratio of 46.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.18.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.31. Hershey had a net margin of 7.55% and a return on equity of 27.90%. The firm had revenue of $3.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.69 earnings per share. Hershey’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.200-8.520 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $1.452 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.37. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 133.87%.

Hershey News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Hershey this week:

Positive Sentiment: Q4 results and revisions momentum — Hershey has recently reported an earnings beat and revenue growth (EPS and revenue topped estimates; revenue up ~7% year‑over‑year), which underpins the company’s fundamentals and helped lift analyst EPS revisions ahead of the next report. Large-cap consumer staples stocks with A grade EPS revisions ahead of earnings
Neutral Sentiment: FY‑2026 guidance updated — Hershey set FY‑2026 EPS guidance of $8.20–$8.52 and revenue guidance roughly $12.2–$12.3B. The range overlaps consensus, so it’s not a clear beat or miss but removes upside surprise potential and adds near‑term guidance uncertainty for investors.
Neutral Sentiment: Shares have rallied in the past year, keeping the stock on investors’ radar; some coverage is assessing whether current valuation already prices in much of the growth story. Is It Too Late To Consider Hershey (HSY) After Its Strong 1 Year Share Price Rally?
Negative Sentiment: Analyst sentiment turned more cautious — Zacks downgraded Hershey from “strong‑buy” to “hold,” removing a near‑term positive catalyst and likely contributing to selling pressure. Zacks.com
Negative Sentiment: Changing consumer tastes — coverage cites a broader shift toward salty snacks and away from chocolate, naming competitors (e.g., Utz Brands) as potential beneficiaries; that thematic shift raises medium‑term market share and growth concerns for Hershey. Americans Are Eating Less Chocolate and More Salty Snacks. This Stock Could Benefit.
Negative Sentiment: Headline-driven selling — recent market writeups explaining why HSY fell more than the broader market highlight the combination of guidance nuance, the downgrade and the sector rotation as proximate causes for today’s pullback. Here’s Why Hershey (HSY) Fell More Than Broader Market Here’s Why Hershey (HSY) Fell More Than Broader Market (Zacks)

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HSY has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $182.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Hershey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $222.21.

Get Our Latest Report on HSY

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, SVP Jason Reiman sold 2,000 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total transaction of $452,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 41,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,277,008.52. The trade was a 4.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.71, for a total transaction of $325,065.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,974,210.99. The trade was a 2.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 10,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,195,945 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hershey Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.