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Hershey (HSY) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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Hershey (HSY - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $239.84, moving +0.16% from the previous trading session. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.71%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 1.06%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 4.62%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the chocolate bar and candy maker had lost 8.16% over the past month. This has lagged the Consumer Staples sector's gain of 1.27% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.65% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Hershey as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be July 27, 2023. On that day, Hershey is projected to report earnings of $1.90 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 5.56%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $2.51 billion, up 5.69% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $9.49 per share and revenue of $11.28 billion, which would represent changes of +11.38% and +8.29%, respectively, from the prior year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Hershey. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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 ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.06% lower. Hershey is currently a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

In terms of valuation, Hershey is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 25.24. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 22.54.

Also, we should mention that HSY has a PEG ratio of 3.29. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. Food - Confectionery stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 3.29 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Food - Confectionery industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 121, which puts it in the top 49% of all 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.

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


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