Highly ranked chocolate giant Hershey is faring better than the rest of the market during this prolonged downturn. As a result, the IBD SmartSelect Composite Rating for Hershey stock edged nearer to a perfect rating on Monday, rising to 96, of best-possible 99. It was at 94 the day before.
The new score tells you the company is now outperforming 96% of all stocks in terms of the most important fundamental and technical stock-picking criteria. The top-performing stocks tend to have a 95 or better grade as they begin to launch a significant move, putting Hershey stock into the group of best stocks to buy and watch. It's important to keep in mind though that the market is in full retreat today, and with 75% of stocks usually following the market up or down it's not an ideal time to buy.
Hershey Stock's Other Ratings Shine
Among its other key ratings, Hershey stock has an 89 EPS Rating, which means its recent quarterly and annual earnings growth is outpacing 89% of all stocks. It also boasts a 93 Relative Strength Rating, putting its stock into the top 7% in terms of stock price performance over the past year.
Its Accumulation/Distribution Rating of D+ shows moderate selling by institutional investors over the last 13 weeks. Look for the rating to improve to at least a C or better.
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Hershey, Pa.-based Hershey is currently forming a flat base, with a 231.70 entry. See if the stock can break out in heavy trade at least 40% above average. On Monday, Hershey stock was down 0.6% to 212.11, not a bad result on a day when the Dow Jones is down more than 700 points in afternoon trading.
In Q1, the company posted 32% earnings-per-share growth $2.53. That marks three straight quarters of rising EPS performance. Sales grew 16% to $2.67 billion in its most recent quarter.
Hershey stock holds the No. 2 rank among its peers in the Food-Confectionery industry group. Simply Good Foods is the No. 1-ranked stock within the group.
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