The Hershey Company : A Strong Contender For Long Term Success

Despite what some may think, it is proven that Milton Hershey had a positive impact on his community and the world in a various of ways. For example, he built the Milton Hershey school to benefit underprivileged youth. In fact, this school is still in operation today and was originally opened on November 15, 1909. Another way Hershey impacted the lives of many was through the building of Hersheypark. This amusement park was established in 1907 and, like the school, is still in operation today. On the other hand Hershey’s Chocolate also left a huge impact on the entire nation and the world and continues to be successful today. Evidently, his chocolate was innovating at the time because it allowed more people to be able to afford chocolate, not just the wealthy. Furthermore Milton Hershey’s legacy would later impact the lives of a great deal of individuals in a positive manner. If Milton Hershey had not lived, many youth and various families would not have the opportunities that for a better life and pleasure.

The scope of this paper is to analyze the kind of agency problems that emerges between The Hershey Company and their stakeholders and shareholders. To answer this, a review of the company`s board structure and ownership structure was made. Thereafter two specific situations that has occurred in recent times was used as case examples to enlighten the agency problems suggested to emerge by the corporate structure.

We use Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) approach to calculate the cost of equity. The formula of CAPM is re = rf + β × (E[RMkt] – rf).

What kid doesn 't like chocolate? Thanks to the iconic Milton Hershey brand, we now have sweets such as Hershey kisses, Reese 's cups, Kit-Kats, and so many more! This essay will discuss Milton Hershey’s life, contributions to society, his companies, and some facts that might not be well known about him and his company.

Hershey’s and Cadburys are moving towards the premium chocolate market through the acquisition or upmarket launches (Zietsma, 2007). The profit potential present in this sector supported by its 20% annual growth rate make it very attractive for large organizations to come forward and avail this opportunity. There is a low threat of new entrants prevailing in this chocolate industry because of the high capital requirements and expected retaliation by current manufacturers. Current players in the industry also possess some barriers to entry for new entrants by maintaining economies of scales with their large production capacity and keeping their product differentiation with their specialized and novelty chocolate products. Even though there are low switching costs and easy access to distribution channels, but still the brand loyalty of the customers including the Rogers’ Chocolate itself make it harder for new firms to come into the competition.

Debt to total assets ratio measures the percentage of assets financed by creditors (not stockholders). Debt finance is more risky than equity finance because they must be paid whether a company is doing well or not. Tootsie Roll has a 28% debt to total assets ratio while Hershey’s is 71% indicating that Hershey is taking a higher risk.

The capital structure of this retail drugstore is determined by 42,5% Debt and 57,50% Equity due to $8.239 of the total debt and $11,104,30 of Equity resulting in $19,313.60 of Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity for 2007. Among the main debt-financing sources,

e) Maintenance contracts - Maintenance costs should be included as incremental cash flows because they could change the NPV of the project if the maintenance costs are significantly different for each of the different projects.

This is said because the return on assets ratio is low. When it is low the company uses less money on more investment. The profit margin is low as well calculated at only .6% showing that Kudler Foods had a low profit at that reporting time.  The debt to total assets ratio was .28%, which showed the company is healthy. The times interest earned ratio was 9.8%, which backs up claims of financial health. The solvency ratio shows Kudler Foods can pay back long-term obligations. Each ratio has different users interest in mind. Return on common stockholder’s equity is defined as Net Income / Total Capital, and Return on Common Stockholders’ Equity: 676,795 / 1,928,960 = 35.09% Return. Here is a comparison of this (2003) information to the same information from last years’ (2002) records to begin to determine a trend.

Torres’ common-size financial statements also show the changing composition of Costco’s financing structure over time. The fact that interest expense consistently fell over the five year span from -0.35% of net sales in 1997 to -0.09% in 2001 demonstrates Costco’s ability to reduce its overall amount of debt during these years. Exhibit nine’s balance sheet portion supports this reduction, documenting an increase in total current liabilities from 35.86% of total assets in 1997 to 40.76% in 2001 and an increase in accounts payable from 25.46% of assets in 1997 to 27.03% in 2001. This signifies that the company’s debts or obligations due within one year increased, further corresponding with the fact that short-term borrowing increased from 0.46% of assets in 1997 to 1.93% in 2001. With an increase in short-term borrowing it is logical to expect to see a decrease in long-term borrowing. The income statement proves that this is indeed the case, documenting a decrease in long-term debt from 16.74% of sales in 1997 to 8.52% in 2001. This relates back to the decrease in Costco’s interest expense on the income statement, representing the company’s decision to switch to short-term and away from long-term methods. Furthermore, the decrease in long-term debt helped account for a decrease in total liabilities from

The company’s debt ratios are 54.5% in 1988, 58.69% in 1989, 62.7% in 1990, and 67.37% in 1991. What this means is that the company is increasing its financial risk by taking on more leverage. The company has been taking an extensive amount of purchasing over the past couple of years, which could be the reason as to why net income has not grown much beyond several thousands of dollars. One could argue that the company is trying to expand its inventory to help accumulate future sales. But another problem is that the company’s

The Corporate Finance course has helped me, as a student, gain intelligence to make informed decisions upon analyzing the details for Sunflower Nutraceuticals (SNC). These decisions will influence the company’s overall growth annually. In addition to various details of the SNC Company I have also made various decisions in each of the phases of SNC’s simulation which has an estimated values to figure out the results. This paper also explains how SNC’s decisions are influenced with regards to the working capital followed with the final step of evaluating the general affects associated with the limited

William Wrigley Jr. Company is exploring whether it is optimal to recapitalise with taking on $3 billion of debt. Three options are revised; borrow and repurchase shares, dividend payouts or continue to function with full equity. Debt will provide a tax shield of $1.2 billion given the tax rate is 40%, this should increase the market share price to $61.53 per share. The viable method for the company is to utilize this debt to repurchase shares. The will not only increase Wrigley’s market value, via the debt shield, but also signal to market that management believes Wrigley’s is undervalued, something the dividend payment won’t achieve.

To facilitate the valuation aspect of the analysis, free-cash-flow forecasts are provided in case Exhibit 10 for Hershey as a stand-alone entity. Most students should find it easy to calculate a value for Hershey using the discounted-cash-flow (DCF) method and industry-comparable multiples, which also are provided. As with any valuation case, students must make judgments about the appropriate capital structure, the weighted average cost of capital (WACC), sales growth, and the terminal growth rate. Once students have explored the value drivers for Hershey though sensitivity analysis, they may then evaluate the bids from both Nestlé S.A.–Cadbury Schweppes PLC (NCS) and the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company. They will want to examine whether the bids are fair from the perspective of HFC shareholders and whether the synergies assumed by the bidders in their offer prices are reasonable.

The costs of capital and capital structures for Pfizer Inc. and its two competitors Merck & Co. Inc. and Johnson & Johnson in the pharmaceutical industry are analyzed in this memo.