Hershey Company (The) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $1.45 (NYSE:HSY)

Key Points

• Hershey declared a quarterly dividend of $1.452 per share, payable on June 15 to shareholders of record May 15 (ex-dividend date May 15), implying an annualized yield of about 3.1%.
• Hershey has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years, but currently has a high payout ratio of 90.5%, although analysts' $9.80 EPS estimate for next year would lower the implied payout ratio to about 59.2%.
• The company beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $2.35 vs. $2.05 and revenue of $3.10B vs. $3.02B, yet the stock fell 1.8% to $185.79; valuation metrics include a P/E of 42.8 and market cap of roughly $37.7B.

Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of 1.452 per share on Monday, June 15th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th.

Hershey has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 15 consecutive years. Hershey has a dividend payout ratio of 90.5% indicating that 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 $9.80 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 59.2%.

Hershey Stock Down 1.8%

HSY traded down $3.37 on Thursday, hitting $185.79. The company had a trading volume of 3,177,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,004,411. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $210.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $196.76. Hershey has a 12-month low of $150.04 and a 12-month 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 stock has a market capitalization of $37.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.18.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.30. Hershey had a return on equity of 27.90% and a net margin of 7.55%.The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Hershey will post 8.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Hershey

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.

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