Hasbro + Sesame Street = Stock Goes Up

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Sesame Street fans will soon find a whole new range of Hasbro(HAS) games and toys based on their favorite Sesame Street characters at their local toy stores in 2011 -- and the market likes that.

One of the world's leading family toy and game makers, Hasbro has teamed up with Sesame Street for at least the next ten years, where they will make products featuring Elmo, Big Bird, Abby Cadabby and Cookie Monster, and others.

The partnership, announced today, has given Hasbro rights to make and market a wide-range of toys and co-branded games based on the Sesame Street characters.

In spite of Hasbro's rising film revenue, the company continues to focus on what it does best: toy and games. Its CEO recently told BusinessWeek that Hasbro will continue to invest heavily in research and development in the revival of old toys and the build-up recent ones. The approach comes from a hard lesson the company learned in a failed venture into computer games in the 1990s.

Last week Hasbro declared a quarterly cash dividend of 20 cents per common share, payable in February of next year.

Toy-company stocks have been trading in mixed territory. Shares of Hasbro have risen 2.5% to $31 in afternoon trading, while JAKKS Pacific (JAKK)has fallen 4.7% to $11.20. Mattel (MAT)has inched up 0.8% to $20.10. RC2 (RCRC)has fallen 0.6% to $14.20.

-- Reported by Andrea Tse in New York.

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