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

Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of 1.452 per share on Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th.

Hershey has raised its dividend by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 15 years. Hershey has a 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 fall. Equities analysts expect Hershey to earn $9.78 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 59.3%.

Hershey Trading Down 3.7%

HSY traded down $6.75 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $177.16. The stock had a trading volume of 1,978,866 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,032,140. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $179.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $196.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.11. Hershey has a 1-year low of $161.43 and a 1-year high of $239.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 28.98%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 EPS. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.360-8.520 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Hershey will post 8.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Hershey

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HSY. PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators bought a new position in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at about $9,633,000. Prudential PLC increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 237.3% during the 4th quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 7,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,454,000 after purchasing an additional 5,620 shares during the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 38,266.7% in the 4th quarter. Friedenthal Financial now owns 5,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 5,740 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,744,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Hershey by 126.4% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 84,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,508,000 after purchasing an additional 47,017 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Company Profile

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.