Hershey Company (The) (HSY) To Go Ex-Dividend on November 16th

Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be given a dividend of $1.4520 per share on Tuesday, December 15th. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis 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% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 15 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 fall. Equities research 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 Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $160.56 on Friday. Hershey has a 52-week low of $156.16 and a 52-week high of $239.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.26 billion, a PE ratio of 21.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $170.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $189.16.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $2.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the firm earned $1.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Hershey will post 8.47 EPS 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.