hsy

The company said the price increase takes effect immediately. However, consumers may not see the impact on store shelves right away. Many retailers will be able to buy products at the old prices for about 8 weeks.

Hershey said that it expects most of the financial benefit from the increases to be reflected in its 2012 results. The decision comes just weeks ahead of Easter, one of the most popular candy consumption holidays.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) said it raised wholesale prices by 9.7% due to fuel, raw materials and transportation costs.

Good Morning. It's Thursday, March 31, 2011. At this hour, U.S. equity futures are mixed. Overseas, the Asian markets and the European markets are mixed.

A weighted average price increase of approximately 9.7 percent across the company's instant consumable, multi-pack, packaged candy and grocery lines is effective today.

The company said it continues to expect full-year 2011 net sales, including the impact of foreign currency exchange rates, and adjusted earnings per share-diluted growth to be around the top of the company's long-term 3 to 5 perce

The Hershey Company (HSY) announced an increase in wholesale prices across the majority of its U.S., Puerto Rico and export portfolio.

The bank bumped its 2011 EPS estimate to $2.90 from $2.88, vs. the consensus estimate for $2.77 per share, and its 2012 EPS estimate to $3.12 from $3.10, compared to consensus estimates of $3.01 per share.

UBS cited accelerating sales momentum, at 11% year-over-year for the 4 weeks ended February 19th, driven by +10% higher volumes.

Hershey is currently above its 50-day moving average (MA) of $49.90 and above its 200-day of $48.54.

UBS raised its price target for The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) to $54 from $51 and maintained its neutral rating on the stock.

Hershey has overhead space with shares priced $50.03, or 1.9% below the average consensus analyst price target of $51.00. Hershey shares have support at the 200-day moving average (MA) of $48.05 and additional support at the 50-da

Credit Suisse upgraded Hershey (NYSE:HSY) from Neutral to Outperform a week ago. The shares are currently trading at $50.43, or 3.7% over the $48.61 price of one week ago.

Wednesday, February 2nd will kick off earnings with AOL (AOL), Time Warner (TWX), Mattel(MAT), Whirlpool (WHR), Nasdaq OMX (NDAQ), and Hershey (HSY). Expect earnings releases from News Corp (NWSA), Hartford Financial Services (HIG

For 2011, Hershey said it sees full-year sales near the top of the 3-5% growth range. Analysts are looking for 4% sales growth. EPS is expected to be in the range of $2.70-$2.76 vs.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) reported Q4 EPS of 61 cents, inline with the consensus estimate. Sales in the quarter rose to $1.48 billion which was also inline. The company reported a Q4 gross margin of 41.8%.