Hershey (HSY) closed the most recent trading day at $180.84, moving +2.4% from the previous trading session. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 1.75% gain on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow saw an upswing of 1.86%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 2.54%.
The chocolate bar and candy maker's stock has dropped by 9.74% in the past month, falling short of the Consumer Staples sector's gain of 1.72% and the S&P 500's loss of 1.63%.
Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Hershey in its upcoming earnings disclosure. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $1.46, marking a 20.66% rise compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $2.66 billion, up 1.87% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $8.45 per share and revenue of $12.28 billion, which would represent changes of +33.91% and +5.05%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Hershey. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the business and profitability.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.06% lower within the past month. Currently, Hershey is carrying a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
From a valuation perspective, Hershey is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 20.9. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 19.72, which means Hershey is trading at a premium to the group.
It's also important to note that HSY currently trades at a PEG ratio of 1.06. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Food - Confectionery industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.06 as of yesterday's close.
The Food - Confectionery industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 112, placing it within the top 46% of over 250 industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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Hershey Company (The) (HSY): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).