Hershey: A Little Sweet, A Little Savory $HSY

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) is a wonderful business that just about everyone in the United States knows and loves. Hershey plays on brand recognition, nostalgia from your memories growing up, and that little bit of indulgence after a long day. Those are three powerful ingredients to the Hershey business.

Their experience and ability to truly look long-term thanks to The Hershey Trust Company owning a significant portion of the company. That long-term focus on what's best for the business in the future has allowed Hershey to reach some pretty remarkable milestones leading the S&P Food sector in gross and operating profit margin.

Hershey CAGNY Conference (Hershey CAGNY Conference)

Hershey's stock has been on a quite a run lately with significant outperformance versus the S&P 500 coming since the turn of the year. Not bad for a boring, consumer staple business.

Data by YCharts

While Hershey is the number one confectioner in the US with their eponymous Hershey brands, Kiss, and Reese's, they've also been adding brands on the savory side of snacking through acquisitions. Some of the brands that have been acquired are Skinny Pop, Pirates Booty, Paqui and more.

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