What Makes The Hershey Company (HSY) a Stable Food Dividend Stock?
A close-up of hands deftly moulding a bar of chocolate.
The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) is a well-known consumer staples company primarily recognized for its confections and snacks. While the company has broadened its product range to include items like popcorn and pretzels, chocolate remains one of its core offerings. Seen as an affordable indulgence, Hershey’s chocolate continues to be highly popular, driving steadily increasing sales over time.
The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) recently revealed it will increase prices for the second time in just over a year, attributing the hike to ongoing high cocoa costs that will lead to a double-digit rise in candy prices. While cocoa prices have dropped from their record high of $12,000 per metric ton, they still trade above $8,000 per metric ton. Many analysts expect these elevated prices to persist in the near term, largely due to last year’s adverse weather conditions in Western Africa.
The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) is also a strong dividend payer, having raised its payouts for 15 consecutive years. The company offers a quarterly dividend of $1.37 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.93%, as of July 27.
While we acknowledge the potential of HSY as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you’re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on thebest short-term AI stock.
While Deep’s name only began resonating in cricket circles after his 10 wickets at Edgbaston, his story stretches far deeper.
Born in a small village in Bihar, one of India’s most economically challenged states, Akash grew up believing cricket was a game for the wealthy. It was his childhood friend Vaibhav Kumar who first instilled belief in him.
“Cricket wasn’t very popular in Bihar back then. In our entire district, barely 20 to 25 people were playing leather-ball cricket,” Vaibhav says.
“Akash mostly played with a tennis ball, but whenever we took him along for a leather-ball match, he would always help us win. But Akash thought that only the rich could play cricket.”
Vaibhav, a cricketer himself, became convinced of Deep’s talent after watching professional players up close.
“We went to Jamshedpur, where a few Ranji Trophy and IPL players were playing in an academy. When I saw them bowling, I was like ‘Akash is faster and better than them’,” he recalls.
“I asked the coaches there to take a look at him, and they were impressed too. They said if not India, Akash could definitely play IPL as long as he works hard.”
But before Deep could fully commit to the sport, tragedy struck. His father died in 2015, followed by his elder brother just six months later.
With no primary breadwinner in the family, cricket was put on hold.
“He bought a dumper on partnership after saving some money from farming and used it to earn a living. His mother also received half of her late husband’s salary, which helped the family get by,” Vaibhav says.
Deep left the game for nearly three years, but his passion for cricket never fully disappeared. Determined to chase his dream, he decided to relocate to Bengal.
“My father was posted in Bengal, and we decided to rent a flat there. I went to different clubs and asked them to consider Akash, but they would make fun of me,” Vaibhav says.
“But I didn’t give up and requested one of the coaches multiple times to take a look at him just once. After seeing him, they agreed to play him.”
In the immediate hours after at least four people were fatally shot, including an off-duty police officer, after a man carrying a long gun opened fire in Manhattan, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle began taking familiar sides in the gun control debate.
On Fox News, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) suggested that gun control laws would not help make the public safer and that the city should instead consider bringing back stop-and-frisk.
“On Capitol Hill, probably beginning in the morning, there’ll be the inevitable call by some of my colleagues for more gun control laws. We’ve got hundreds of gun control laws, maybe thousands,” Kennedy said on Sean Hannity’s show. “We don’t need more gun control, we need more idiot control.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who represents a Brooklyn district, called the shooting “tragic and horrifying” and mass shootings a “plague.”
“The gun violence epidemic continues to afflict our country and now has shattered lives in our great City. The time has come for decisive action,” he said in a statement.
The motives of the gunman, who fatally shot himself, were not immediately clear. A still of surveillance footage appears to show him carrying an assault-style rifle.
“I don’t want to hear anyone feeling sorry for this guy who did this,” Kennedy said. “I believe there’s objective evil in this world, and we saw it today.”
The Louisiana senator also floated bringing back stop-and-frisk, a policy with a controversial history of targeting communities of color in New York City.
“The other thing that, frankly, New York’s going to have to face, is the issue of whether we should bring back more aggressive stop and frisk, which is a perfectly legal law enforcement tactic,” he said.
The tactic was formally ended under the tenure of Mayor Bill de Blasio. In 2024, the city instituted a rule requiring police to disclose the race of people they stop for questioning.
Why Flowers Foods (FLO) is a Top Food Stock for Dividend Investors
A female baker in a spotless kitchen carefully decorating a cake.
Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) is an American company that manufactures a range of bakery products for both retail and foodservice markets nationwide. Its offerings include items like fresh bread, buns, rolls, snack cakes, and tortillas. The company supplies these products to grocery stores, convenience outlets, and restaurants. Among its most recognized brands are Nature’s Own, Whitewheat, Cobblestone Bread, Wonder, Dave’s Killer Bread, Canyon Bakehouse, Mrs. Freshley’s, and Tastykake.
Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) has a strong cash position. In the most recent quarter, the company generated $135.6 million in operating cash flow, which grew by $30.5 million. The company also remained committed to its shareholder obligation, returning $52.3 million through dividends during the quarter, up $1.2 million from the previous quarter.
Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE:FLO) currently offers a quarterly dividend of $0.2475 per share, having raised it by 3.1% in May. This was the company’s 23rd consecutive year of dividend growth, which makes it one of the best food stocks with dividends. In addition, it has paid regular dividends to shareholders for 91 quarters in a row. The stock has a dividend yield of 6.09%, as of July 27.
While we acknowledge the potential of FLO as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you’re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on thebest short-term AI stock.
The RNLI said it saved the lives of 58 migrants last year
Lifeboat crew members who are called out to migrants crossing the Channel in small boats have told the BBC they make no apologies for saving lives at sea.
The RNLI has faced accusations that it is acting as a “taxi service” for people trying to enter the UK illegally.
But its members said they will react to any incident they are asked to by the Coastguard and will go to the aid of anyone in trouble on or in the water.
Last year, lifeboat crews responded 114 times to small boats – representing just over 1% of their total call-outs across the UK and Ireland. The charity said it has saved the lives of 58 migrants, including children.
Paula Lain, who works as a management consultant when she’s not volunteering for the RNLI, said: “When our pager goes, we’re not thinking anything political.
“We’re all thinking about people. We’re actively compassionate. That’s what drives us beyond any moral or civic responsibility.
“When we’re tasked, we don’t know what we’re going to be tasked to. We’re there to help people in their most distressing times.”
Simon Jones/BBC
RNLI volunteer Paula Lain says the RNLI doesn’t think politically when the pager goes
The RNLI has released harrowing images of an incident in which 19 people had to be pulled from the sea after the dinghy they were in capsized. It said it wants to provide an insight into the reality facing its volunteer crews.
The images show the crew throwing what are called horse shoes – effectively mini life jackets – into the sea.
But on seeing the lifeboat, many of those in the water decide to swim directly to it, and they are hauled on board.
Some collapse with exhaustion, others need immediate medical attention. The lifeboat already had 68 people on board from an earlier incident.
Simon Jones/BBC
RNLI volunteer Dan Sinclair says what they see in the English Channel has a profound impact
Everyone rescued by the RNLI in this incident in August 2023 survived – but six people pulled from the water by other vessels who responded to the emergency lost their lives.
RNLI crew members said they have faced accusations that they are facilitating illegal immigration.
But volunteer Dan Sinclair says what they see in the Channel has a profound impact on them.
He recalls one recent rescue, telling the BBC: “There was a little girl on that boat.
“When we took that little girl – who was probably four years old – off that boat, she looked at me straight in the eye and she said ‘Thank you. I love you.'”
You can see more about the rescue on the new series of ‘Saving Lives at Sea’ on BBC Two on Thursday at 20:00 BST and on iPlayer.
In the immediate hours after at least four people were fatally shot, including an off-duty police officer, after a man carrying a long gun opened fire in Manhattan, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle began taking familiar sides in the gun control debate.
On Fox News, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) suggested that gun control laws would not help make the public safer and that the city should instead consider bringing back stop-and-frisk.
“On Capitol Hill, probably beginning in the morning, there’ll be the inevitable call by some of my colleagues for more gun control laws. We’ve got hundreds of gun control laws, maybe thousands,” Kennedy said on Sean Hannity’s show. “We don’t need more gun control, we need more idiot control.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who represents a Brooklyn district, called the shooting “tragic and horrifying” and mass shootings a “plague.”
“The gun violence epidemic continues to afflict our country and now has shattered lives in our great City. The time has come for decisive action,” he said in a statement.
The motives of the gunman, who fatally shot himself, were not immediately clear. A still of surveillance footage appears to show him carrying an assault-style rifle.
“I don’t want to hear anyone feeling sorry for this guy who did this,” Kennedy said. “I believe there’s objective evil in this world, and we saw it today.”
The Louisiana senator also floated bringing back stop-and-frisk, a policy with a controversial history of targeting communities of color in New York City.
“The other thing that, frankly, New York’s going to have to face, is the issue of whether we should bring back more aggressive stop and frisk, which is a perfectly legal law enforcement tactic,” he said.
The tactic was formally ended under the tenure of Mayor Bill de Blasio. In 2024, the city instituted a rule requiring police to disclose the race of people they stop for questioning.
The US ag BRACE Industry has recently been squawking about a pollination problem with the 2025 US corn crop.
We can ignore this group for the most part while focusing on what the market has been and continues to tell us about REAL fundamentals.
Here we see, for whatever reason, some interest in US supply and demand next spring.
Does the 2025 US corn crop have a pollination problem? This seems to be the subject du jour with nearly every ag media outlet devoting as much time and space to the subject as possible. According to most of these media accounts, the US will be lucky to harvest one truckload of corn this fall, leaving the world in a crushing supply deficit while sending the market soaring to $42[i] per bushel[ii]. Now, if you believe all this, I have a mountain-top villa in south-central Kansas to sell you.
Why do I seem skeptical? After all, I’m no more an agronomist than I am an economist. But here’s the thing, many of the folks who are squawking about how the sky is falling in regard to the US corn crop couldn’t tell an ear of corn from a head of milo. Most of them are members in good standing of the BRACE[iii] Industry meaning they turn to whatever direction the USDA office is from them each morning and repeat their official mantra, “Everything is always bullish”. If it wasn’t a pollination problem it would be “not enough heat units”, or “it’s too hot”, or “it’s too wet”, or “it’s too dry”, or my favorite “the latest trade deals mean China is going to save US agriculture”. Huzzah! Huzzah!! Huzzah!!!
As a former long-time member of the ag media circus turned long-term investor, I’ve learned to ignore nearly all of what the industry has to say. It gives me a HIT[iv] advantage to listen to what the markets are saying rather than the cacophony screeching voices always present in the background.
Given all this, what is the corn market telling us in late July? As always, I’ll turn to our key reads on real market supply and demand: The National Corn Index[v], national average basis[vi], and futures spreads.
The National Corn Index ($CNCI) was calculated near $3.85 last Friday putting it in the lower 20% of its 5-year price distribution range[vii]. Based on the economic law of Supply and Demand, this tells us spot cash supplies are large in relation to immediate demand.
National average basis was calculated last Friday at roughly 14.5 cents under September futures and 34.0 cents under December. The previous 10-year average for last week was 14.75 cents under September with the previous 5-year (and 10-year) low weekly close for the first week of September at 30.0 cents under December.
Which leaves us with futures spreads. As you know, I use the price relationship between futures contracts to indicate how the commercial side is position based on its long-term fundamental outlook. A quick recap of what we’ve seen this past year:
Dec25 corn spent the 6-month period from the first weekly close last September through the last weekly close this past February buying 2025 planted area away from the Nov25 soybean futures contract.
The September corn contract, a hybrid issue[viii], showed its new-crop side during 2025 indicating those increased acres were planted early. The September-December futures spread posted a high daily close of 3.0 cents inverse on February 20, steadily falling to last Friday’s close of 19.5 cents carry.
Therefore, the market told us there would be more acres and those acres were planted earlier than usual. Since then, we’ve seen the 2025-2026 futures spreads (Dec25-Mar26 through May26-July26, summarized by the Dec25-Jul26 forward curve) tell us, to quote Paul Harvey, “the rest of the story”.
To get a better understand of what the market is saying, I track the trend[ix] of percent of calculated full commercial carry[x] covered by each spread and the forward curve. Here’s what the trends have done from the first weekly close of March through late July:
Dec25 (ZCZ25) -Mar26 (ZCH26) futures spread: 37% calculated full commercial carry (cfcc) to 57%. While still a neutral read, the larger percent tells us the commercial side is comfortable with the number of supplies that will be available in relation to demand during harvest. This same week last year the Dec24-Mar25 spread covered 46%.
Dec25-Jul26 (ZCN26) forward curve: 30% to 47%. Again, the increase has been consistent. However, here we see a low weekly close (high percent) of 48% the second week of July.
Mar26-May26 (ZCK26) and May26-Jul26 futures spreads: Here’s where things get interesting as both spreads have stabilized during July. The March-May reflects the reality of bushels being tucked away over the winter, meaning demand is expected to firm against available supplies. Further out, the May-July closed last weekly covering 30% cfcc as compared to its low two weeks prior of 35% and 36% the same week last year. Is the lower percent due to tighter supplies tied to pollination? Is it due to increased demand from ethanol, feed, and exports? All are possible. The reality is we don’t know. What we do know is the commercial side is keeping a close eye on longer-term supply AND demand.
This past week I had the privilege of participating in Barchart’s Grain Merchandising & Technology meetings in Ames, Iowa and Manhattan. At the Ames meeting, the other guest grains analyst Thomas Call, Senior Consultant of Commodity Risk at Mid-Co Commodities talked about how the corn market didn’t seem to have much downside risk at current[xi] levels and seasonal tendencies. I agree, based on my price distribution study and seasonal studies for December corn futures. At last Friday’s close, Dec25 was in the lower 23% of its 5-year range. At the Manhattan meeting Guy Allen, Senior Economist at Kansas State University discussed how corn could soon start to rally. As I’ve talked about over the past year, from an investment point of view, the Dec corn only continuous monthly chart showed a buy signal at the close of August 2024 with another possible at the end of this month, if Dec25 finishes above its June settlement of $4.2550.
So, does the 2025 US corn crop have a pollination problem? Maybe. Or maybe not. I’ll counter the braying BRACE Industry with this question: Does it matter? Recall Market Rule #5: It’s the what, not the why. The “what” in late July is commercial interests have been providing longer-term support. We’ll see what happens over the coming months.
[i] According to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, “42” is the answer to everything. A tip of the hat to Scott K., one of my former editors back in the newsroom.
[ii] No, the US could never figure out the metric system the rest of the world uses.
[iii] BRACE = Brokers/Reporters/Analysts/Commentators/Economists who as a group have never met a USDA statistic they won’t quote or a make-believe story they won’t pass along.
[iv] Hedging-Investing-Trading
[v] National average cash price, intrinsic value of the market
[vi] National Corn Index minus futures
[vii] Based on weekly closes only. This shows us how often a market or contract posts a weekly close above or below certain price levels over a set period of time. It’s based on the idea there was value in knowing the upper and lower 33%. What I find more important is what it says about a market when we apply the economic Law of Supply and Demand.
[viii] Part old-crop, part new-crop
[ix] Simply price direction over time. No extravagant technical analysis necessary.
[x] The total cost, storage and interest, to hold supplies in commercial storage. The storage rate is set by the CME with interest the sum of the 90-day SOFR rate + 2.2125 percent.
[xi] Sorry Tony D.
On the date of publication, Darin Newsom did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com
Vanessa Whyte and her daughter Sara and son James were fatally shot at a house in Maguiresbridge on Wednesday
Funeral arrangements for Ms Whyte and her children were announced on Monday night.
In a post on social media the funeral directors said: “People attending the service of removal and funeral Mass are asked to please wear bright and cheerful colours in their memory.”
A service of removal will take place at St Mary’s Church in Maguiresbridge at 11:00 BST on Wednesday 30 July.
The funeral Mass will be held in Vanessa Whyte’s home town of Barefield, County Clare on Saturday 2 August.
“Following Mass, Vanessa, James and Sara will be laid to rest together in Templemaley Cemetery,” they said.
Emergency services were called to their home on the Drummeer Road on Wednesday morning.
Two of the victims were declared dead at the scene and a third victim died later that day in hospital.
Hours after the attack, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) told a news conference a man from the same household was in hospital with gunshot wounds.
Tributes to murder victims
PA Media
Tributes were left on the Drumeer Road in County Fermanagh near the scene of the shooting
Sara and James were both students at Enniskillen Royal Grammar School and were former pupils of Maguiresbridge Primary School in their home village.
Several senior politicians were present as religious representatives addressed the vigil, and a minute’s silence was held as a mark of respect for the victims.
Andrew Hamilton
The victims were prayed for in the Church of the Immaculate Conception in County Clare on Sunday
A prayer service also took place on Sunday evening at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Barefield, County Clare.
During the service, the parish priest, Fr Tom Fitzpatrick, told mourners:
“Let us remember Vanessa not just by the way she died, but by the life she lived, her smile, her strength, her incredible powerful love for her children.
“She gave it her all to the very end.”
“We remember James and Sara, not just as victims of violence, but as children who played and who laughed and had their favourite stories, of course favourite foods I’m sure as well, and great dreams,” he added.
“Dreams that will never be fulfilled, but dreams that mattered because they were theirs.”
If you are affected by any of the issues in this article, details of organisations that can offer help and support are available on the BBC Action Line.
In the immediate hours after at least four people were fatally shot, including an off-duty police officer, after a man carrying a long gun opened fire in Manhattan, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle began taking familiar sides in the gun control debate.
On Fox News, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) suggested that gun control laws would not help make the public safer and that the city should instead consider bringing back stop-and-frisk.
“On Capitol Hill, probably beginning in the morning, there’ll be the inevitable call by some of my colleagues for more gun control laws. We’ve got hundreds of gun control laws, maybe thousands,” Kennedy said on Sean Hannity’s show. “We don’t need more gun control, we need more idiot control.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who represents a Brooklyn district, called the shooting “tragic and horrifying” and mass shootings a “plague.”
“The gun violence epidemic continues to afflict our country and now has shattered lives in our great City. The time has come for decisive action,” he said in a statement.
The motives of the gunman, who fatally shot himself, were not immediately clear. A still of surveillance footage appears to show him carrying an assault-style rifle.
“I don’t want to hear anyone feeling sorry for this guy who did this,” Kennedy said. “I believe there’s objective evil in this world, and we saw it today.”
The Louisiana senator also floated bringing back stop-and-frisk, a policy with a controversial history of targeting communities of color in New York City.
“The other thing that, frankly, New York’s going to have to face, is the issue of whether we should bring back more aggressive stop and frisk, which is a perfectly legal law enforcement tactic,” he said.
The tactic was formally ended under the tenure of Mayor Bill de Blasio. In 2024, the city instituted a rule requiring police to disclose the race of people they stop for questioning.
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) is a well-known defense contractor with a presence in the aircraft and missile industries. Its shares have gained 22% year-to-date, helped in large part by an 11% jump in July. Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)’s stock soared due to its second-quarter earnings report, which saw the firm raise its midpoint full-year profit-per-share forecast to $25.20 from an earlier $25.15. The firm’s $10.35 billion in revenue also beat analyst estimates of $10.07 billion. In his previous remarks about Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC), Cramer called the firm catastrophic after its Q1 results. This time, he struck a different tone:
“And Northrop Grumman, for worldwide sales. So we’re seeing a lot of bifurcation in a lot of different industries.”
Here’s what Cramer said about Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) after its Q1 results:
“Finally, there’s Northrop Grumman, which was the dud of the day, reporting a severe top and bottom line miss for the first quarter, and cutting its full year earnings forecast pretty substantially. Now there’s some important context here. Both the miss and the forecast cut were related to Northrop Grumman’s next-generation B-21 bomber program. They’re taking a hit on the higher cost as they try to ramp up production.
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC) Has Strong Worldwide Sales, Says Jim Cramer
That said, even if you add that back, the impact from the B-21 charge, Northrop Grumman still would’ve missed the sales and earnings estimate. It just would’ve been a smaller disappointment. These Northrop Grumman results simply weren’t up to snuff, so the stock had its worst day since 2008 today, falling $67 or nearly 13%. This one’s now in the penalty box.”
While we acknowledge the potential of NOC as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.
