Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Hershey (HSY) Flat As Market Sinks: What You Should Know

Read MoreHide Full Article

Hershey (HSY - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $215.92, making no change from the previous trading session. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.93%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.43%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.17%.

Heading into today, shares of the chocolate bar and candy maker had lost 1.01% over the past month, lagging the Consumer Staples sector's gain of 2.29% and the S&P 500's gain of 6.31% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Hershey as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be July 28, 2022. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.67, up 13.61% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $2.22 billion, up 11.66% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $8.03 per share and revenue of $9.97 billion, which would represent changes of +11.84% and +11.15%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Hershey. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. Hershey is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Digging into valuation, Hershey currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 26.88. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 23.06.

It is also worth noting that HSY currently has a PEG ratio of 3.51. 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. HSY's industry had an average PEG ratio of 3.51 as of yesterday's close.

The Food - Confectionery industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 99, which puts it in the top 40% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Hershey Company (The) (HSY) - free report >>

Published in