3 Stocks Pushing The Food & Beverage Industry Higher

Editor's Note: TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model

All three major indices are trading down today with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) trading down 27 points (-0.2%) at 12,904 as of Thursday, Nov. 8, 2012, 11:49 AM ET. The NYSE advances/declines ratio sits at 1,218 issues advancing vs. 1,656 declining with 135 unchanged.

The Food & Beverage industry currently sits down 0.3% versus the S&P 500, which is down 0.2%.

TheStreet Ratings group would like to highlight 3 stocks pushing the industry higher today:

3. Hershey Company (HSY) is one of the companies pushing the Food & Beverage industry higher today. As of noon trading, Hershey Company is up $0.74 (1.1%) to $70.33 on average volume Thus far, 346,237 shares of Hershey Company exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of 830,500 shares. The stock has ranged in price between $69.24-$70.39 after having opened the day at $69.43 as compared to the previous trading day's close of $69.59.

The Hershey Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in manufacturing, marketing, selling, and distributing various chocolate and confectionery products, pantry items, and gum and mint refreshment products worldwide. Hershey Company has a market cap of $11.5 billion and is part of the consumer goods sector. The company has a P/E ratio of 21.6, above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Shares are up 12.5% year to date as of the close of trading on Wednesday. Currently there are 4 analysts that rate Hershey Company a buy, no analysts rate it a sell, and 11 rate it a hold.

TheStreet Ratings rates Hershey Company as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, expanding profit margins, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and solid stock price performance. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income. Get the full Hershey Company Ratings Report now.

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For more information on The Hershey Company click any of the following:

• The Hershey Company Stock Price

• The Hershey Company Analyst Ratings

• The Hershey Company Key Stats & Profile

• The Hershey Company Earnings

• The Hershey Company Ratio Comparison

• The Hershey Company Growth Rates

• The Hershey Company Balance Sheet

• The Hershey Company Cash Flow

• The Hershey Company Income Statement