Two Quarterly Reports: Hershey and Verizon

The stock has seen some challenges over the past several weeks, but I wouldn't worry about it. As far as I'm concerned, management is doing a decent job of getting the company's products into the hands of consumers.

Hershey's valuation is acceptable for the most part. Getting the stock on a pullback would offer a better margin of safety and a higher dividend yield. Right now, based on Friday's closing price of $47.21, the shares are yielding 2.7%. If the market is kind and sends this one over the 3% level, then investors should definitely perform some due diligence on the name.

Now, Verizon (VZ) has an even higher dividend yield of 6.8%. Not bad at all. The shares have traded in a narrow range over the past twelve months: the 52-week low is $25.99 and the 52-week high is $34.13. On Friday, they settled at $28.02. What do the latest quarterly results tell us?

The company made 58 cents per share, adjusted. That was two pennies ahead of the consensus estimate. Sales didn't impress Wall Street, but they weren't too bad, either.

You have to go to the press release to check out the free cash flow. This is an important metric considering the quarterly payout. Free cash rose more than 76% to $5.5 billion in Q2. Looks like management has the dividend covered.

Hey, I obviously wouldn't mind it if investors bought this one closer to the 52-week low. But timing any equity can be tricky. To me, Verizon is a solid business that generates a relatively pleasing amount of income for its holders. I don't think the current share price is out of line, but be certain to do your own research to see if you agree.

Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned, but positions can change without notice.