Hershey Falls 1.82% as Investors Await Earnings

Hershey shares closed at $161.41, down 1.82%, as the S&P 500 fell 0.17%. The Dow lost 0.26%, and the Nasdaq slipped 0.09%.

Over the past month, the stock fell 6.7%, compared with a 3.69% decline for the Consumer Staples sector and a 0.24% drop for the S&P 500.

Zacks estimates Hershey will report earnings of $2.11 per share in its upcoming earnings report, up 62.31% from the same quarter a year earlier. Its consensus revenue estimate is $3.25 billion, a 2.3% increase.

For the full fiscal year, Zacks projects earnings of $8.49 per share and revenue of $12.29 billion. Those estimates represent increases of 34.55% and 5.12%, respectively, from the prior year.

The consensus earnings estimate has not changed over the past 30 days, according to Zacks. The publication also reported a forward P/E ratio of 19.37 for Hershey, compared with an industry average of 18.85.