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Hershey (HSY) Declines More Than Market: Some Information for Investors

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Hershey (HSY - Free Report) closed the latest trading day at $149.25, indicating a -1.9% change from the previous session's end. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a loss of 0.51% for the day. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.75%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.28%.

Coming into today, shares of the chocolate bar and candy maker had lost 9.86% in the past month. In that same time, the Consumer Staples sector gained 1.47%, while the S&P 500 gained 2.87%.

Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Hershey in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings report is set to go public on February 6, 2025. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $2.38, reflecting a 17.82% increase from the same quarter last year. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $2.85 billion, showing a 7.25% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.

Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Hershey. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the company's business and profitability.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional 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 last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed a 5.57% decrease. Hershey is currently a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

In terms of valuation, Hershey is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 20.09. This signifies a premium in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 20.07 for its industry.

Investors should also note that HSY has a PEG ratio of 4.36 right now. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Food - Confectionery industry held an average PEG ratio of 3.74.

The Food - Confectionery industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 217, which puts it in the bottom 14% 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.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.


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