Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) Shares Will Pay Quarterly Dividend of $1.45

Key Points

• Hershey declared a quarterly dividend of $1.452 per share, payable December 15 to shareholders of record November 16. The dividend represents $5.81 annually and a 3.6% yield.
• Hershey has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years, though its current earnings payout ratio is high at 90.5%. Analysts expect earnings growth to reduce the projected payout ratio to about 59.1% next year.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $2.64, beating estimates by $0.53, while revenue rose 3% year over year to $3.28 billion. Shares recently traded at $160.56, near their 52-week low of $156.16.

Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 28th. Investors of record on Monday, November 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.4520 per share on Tuesday, December 15th. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 16th.

Hershey has raised its dividend by an average of 0.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 15 consecutive years. Hershey has a dividend payout ratio of 90.5% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company's earnings tumble. Equities analysts expect Hershey to earn $9.82 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 59.1%.

Hershey Price Performance

Hershey stock traded down $3.21 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $160.56. The company had a trading volume of 2,615,185 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,845,492. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $170.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $189.31. The company has a market cap of $32.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.10. Hershey has a fifty-two week low of $156.16 and a fifty-two week high of $239.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $2.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.53. Hershey had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 31.92%. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.30 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Hershey will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

About Hershey

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

Hershey's portfolio includes chocolate, non-chocolate confectionery, gum and mints, and salty snacks. Its brands include Hershey's, Reese's, Hershey's Kisses, Kit Kat in the United States under license from Nestlé, Jolly Rancher, Twizzlers, Ice Breakers, SkinnyPop and Dot's Pretzels.

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