Question: Access the February 19, 2010, filing of the December 31, 2009, 10-K report of The Hershey Company (ticker HSY) at www.sec.gov and complete the following requirements.
Required: Compute or identify the following profitability ratios of Hershey for its years ending December 31, 2009, and December 31, 2008. Interpret its profitability using the results obtained for these two years.
1. Profit margin ratio.
2. Gross profit ratio.
3. Return on total assets. (Total assets at year-end 2007 were $4,247,113,000.)
4. Return on common stockholders' equity. (Total shareholders' equity at year-end 2007 was $592,922,000.)
5. Basic net income per common share.