Hershey (HSY) closed the most recent trading day at $171.65, moving -1.58% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.81%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.27%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.3%.
The chocolate bar and candy maker's shares have seen a decrease of 1.25% over the last month, not keeping up with the Consumer Staples sector's gain of 3.31% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.13%.
Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Hershey in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.46, up 20.66% from the prior-year quarter. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $2.66 billion, reflecting a 1.7% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.
In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $8.43 per share and a revenue of $12.29 billion, indicating changes of +33.6% and +5.07%, respectively, from the former year.
Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Hershey. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. Therefore, positive revisions in estimates convey analysts' confidence in the business performance and profit potential.
Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.22% lower. Hershey is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Looking at valuation, Hershey is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 20.69. This represents a premium compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 19.99.
Meanwhile, HSY's PEG ratio is currently 1.05. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. By the end of yesterday's trading, the Food - Confectionery industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.05.
The Food - Confectionery industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 223, positioning it in the bottom 10% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
To follow HSY in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.
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Hershey Company (The) (HSY): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).