The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Declares $1.37 Quarterly Dividend

The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 31st, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a dividend of 1.37 per share on Monday, September 16th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th.

Hershey has increased its dividend by an average of 12.2% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 15 years. Hershey has a dividend payout ratio of 57.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Hershey to earn $9.42 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 58.2%.

Hershey Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $199.62 on Friday. Hershey has a 12-month low of $178.82 and a 12-month high of $235.80. The company has a market capitalization of $40.37 billion, a PE ratio of 19.78, a PEG ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 0.36. The business has a 50 day moving average of $189.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $192.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 50.15% and a net margin of 18.13%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.96 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Hershey will post 9.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.54, for a total transaction of $306,810.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,614,615.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 4,500 shares of company stock worth $867,450 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on HSY. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on Hershey from $237.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $179.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Citigroup dropped their price target on Hershey from $204.00 to $188.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays dropped their target price on Hershey from $210.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Hershey from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $204.89.

Hershey Company Profile

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.