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Micah Zimmerman, The Motley Fool
Thu, May 7, 2026 astatine 7:35 AM CDT 5 min read
The user goods assemblage houses immoderate of the astir time-tested wealth-builders successful the past of nationalist markets. It includes companies that person paid dividends to shareholders successful bully times and successful bad, including immoderate beauteous large marketplace crises.
Each of the 3 companies featured beneath sits astatine a constituent wherever the setup, a caller catalyst, a reset valuation, oregon a structural translation volition marque the adjacent section successful their improvement a crushed to ain their stocks.
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1. Hershey
Hershey (NYSE: HSY) went done 1 of the astir achy outgo crunches successful its past implicit the past 2 years. Cocoa prices spiked to grounds levels, causingcompression that deed gross margins, and the banal terms fell from a highest supra $240 to astir $186 today. That's a driblet of much than 22% from its highs. The dividend, which grew 6% to $1.452 per stock per 4th successful February, ne'er wavered and is acceptable to spell retired to shareholders again connected May 15.
What has changed for the institution this twelvemonth is cocoa prices. They are down 74% from a December 2024 peak. The borderline betterment this created is present showing up successful the income statement. In Q1 2026, Hershey posted nett gross of $3.10 billion, up 10.6% twelvemonth implicit year. Gross borderline expanded from 33.7% to 39.4%. Adjusted net per stock (EPS) of $2.35 bushed statement by 14.9%. Operating nett roseate 73.5% to $640.7 cardinal successful a azygous quarter.
Management noted that gross margins would amended adjacent further successful Q2 and accelerate done the 2nd fractional of 2026 arsenic little cocoa costs travel done a lagged outgo structure.
The company's existent hazard is volume. Price increases absorbed the commodity shock, but portion volumes declined arsenic consumers pulled backmost connected discretionary snacking. If pricing powerfulness starts to slice earlier measurement betterment arrives, borderline enlargement could stall. The bull case, though, is that Hershey is 1 of the fewer user companies with some a morganatic net betterment thesis and a dividend output present elevated to 3.19%. That's a level not seen successful years.
2. General Mills
General Mills (NYSE: GIS) has paid dividends without interruption for 127 years. The banal is adjacent 52-week lows astatine astir $34, and the dividend output has risen to astir 7%. None of that happened due to the fact that the institution went bankrupt. It happened due to the fact that integrated income declined, input costs rose, and the divestiture of its yogurt concern created near-term net noise.
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