Hershey Posting Strong Gain On Double Upgrade By Bank Of America Merrill Lynch

(RTTNews) - Shares of Hershey Co. (HSY) have pulled back off their highs of the session but continue to see significant strength in afternoon trading on Wednesday. After ending the previous session at a nearly two-month closing low, Hershey is currently up by 3.3 percent.

Hershey rebounded strongly early in the session after Bank of America Merrill Lynch upgraded its rating on the chocolate giant's stock two notches to Buy from Underperform.

"While the chocolate, candy and gum category is slowing, Hershey has taken strategic actions through reinvestment, acquisitions and divestitures and cost savings to drive both sales and earnings growth," BAML analysts Bryan Spillane and Jacqueline Waldman said.

They added, "Hershey has positioned itself better than peers to grow sales and profits while maintaining flexibility to return cash to shareholders."