Item 5. MARKET FOR THE REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Our Common Stock is listed and traded principally on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “HSY.” The Class B Common Stock (“Class B Stock”) is not publicly traded.

The closing price of our Common Stock on December 31, 2024 (the last business day of the of the fiscal year) was $169.35. There were 23,068 stockholders of record of our Common Stock and 5 stockholders of record of our Class B Stock as of December 31, 2024.

We paid $1,084.8 million in cash dividends on our Common Stock and Class B Stock in 2024 and $889.1 million in 2023. The annual dividend rate on our Common Stock in 2024 was $5.480 per share.

On February 5, 2025, our Board declared a quarterly dividend of $1.370 per share of Common Stock payable on March 14, 2025, to stockholders of record as of February 17, 2025. It is the Company’s 380th consecutive quarterly Common Stock dividend. A quarterly dividend of $1.245 per share of Class B Stock also was declared.

Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds

None.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

There were no purchases of shares of Common Stock made by or on behalf of Hershey, or any “affiliated purchaser” (as defined in Rule 10b-18(a)(3) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) of Hershey, for each fiscal month in the three months ended December 31, 2024.

In July 2018, our Board of Directors approved a $500 million share repurchase authorization to repurchase shares of our Common Stock. As a result of the February 2023 Stock Purchase Agreement with Hershey Trust Company, as trustee for the Milton Hershey School Trust (the “School Trust”), the July 2018 share repurchase authorization was completed. In May 2021, our Board of Directors approved an additional $500 million share repurchase authorization, which was completed as of March 31, 2024. In December 2023, our Board of Directors approved an additional $500 million share repurchase authorization. This program commenced after the existing May 2021 authorization was completed and is to be utilized at management’s discretion. Approximately $470 million remains available for repurchases under our December 2023 share repurchase authorization. We are authorized to purchase our outstanding shares in open market and privately negotiated transactions. The program has no expiration date and acquired shares of Common Stock will be held as treasury shares. Purchases under approved share repurchase authorizations are in addition to our practice of buying back shares sufficient to offset those issued under incentive compensation plans.

In February 2023, the Company entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement with Hershey Trust Company, as trustee for the School Trust, pursuant to which the Company purchased 1,000,000 shares of the Company’s Common Stock from the School Trust at a price equal to $239.91 per share, for a total purchase price of $239.9 million.

In February 2022, the Company entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement with Hershey Trust Company, as trustee for the School Trust, pursuant to which the Company purchased 1,000,000 shares of the Company’s Common Stock from the School Trust at a price equal to $203.35 per share, for a total purchase price of $203.4 million.

Table of Contents			The Hershey Company | 2024 Form 10-K | Page 20

Stockholder Return Performance Graph

The following graph compares our cumulative total stockholder return (Common Stock price appreciation plus dividends, on a reinvested basis) over the last five fiscal years with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Packaged Foods Index.

Comparison of 5 Year Cumulative Total Return*

Among The Hershey Company, the S&P 500 Index,

and the S&P 500 Packaged Foods Index

The stock price performance included in this graph is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.