Hershey (HSY – Free Report) closed the latest trading day at $169.62, indicating a -0.82% change from the previous session’s end. The stock’s change was less than the S&P 500’s daily gain of 0.38%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.03%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.87%.
Coming into today, shares of the chocolate bar and candy maker had lost 4.18% in the past month. In that same time, the Consumer Staples sector gained 1.23%, while the S&P 500 lost 5.59%.
Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Hershey in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $1.96, indicating a 36.16% decline compared to the equivalent quarter last year. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $2.83 billion, indicating a 13.09% decline compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.
For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $6.10 per share and a revenue of $11.42 billion, representing changes of -34.9% and +1.93%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for Hershey. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company’s business and profitability.
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.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.21% downward. Right now, Hershey possesses a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Hershey has a Forward P/E ratio of 28.02 right now. This signifies a premium in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 23.03 for its industry.
Also, we should mention that HSY has a PEG ratio of 6.08. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company’s anticipated earnings growth rate. The average PEG ratio for the Food – Confectionery industry stood at 4.44 at the close of the market yesterday.
The Food – Confectionery industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 235, positioning it in the bottom 6% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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.
Remember to apply Zacks.com to follow these and more stock-moving metrics during the upcoming trading sessions.
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