Hershey (HSY) ended the recent trading session at $175.31, demonstrating a -3.95% change from the preceding day's closing price. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.22%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw a downswing of 0.98%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq depreciated by 1.35%.
Coming into today, shares of the chocolate bar and candy maker had lost 5.33% in the past month. In that same time, the Consumer Staples sector gained 1.54%, while the S&P 500 gained 1.56%.
The upcoming earnings release of Hershey will be of great interest to investors. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.46, up 20.66% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $2.66 billion, up 1.84% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $8.45 per share and a revenue of $12.29 billion, demonstrating changes of +33.91% and +5.09%, respectively, from the preceding year.
Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Hershey. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the business outlook.
Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, spanning from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), boasts an impressive track record of outperformance, audited externally, with #1 ranked stocks yielding an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.06% lower. Hershey is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.
With respect to valuation, Hershey is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 21.6. This indicates a premium in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 20.42.
Also, we should mention that HSY has a PEG ratio of 1.1. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Food - Confectionery was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.1 at yesterday's closing price.
The Food - Confectionery industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 193, placing it within the bottom 21% of over 250 industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Remember to apply Zacks.com to follow these and more stock-moving metrics during the upcoming trading sessions.
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Hershey Company (The) (HSY): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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