Hasbro Plays "Sorry"

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Goodbye, Boardwalk. Hello, Baltic Avenue.

Monopoly maker Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) saw its shares hit a fresh 52-week low today, even after announcing a manufacturing-plant update that will make the company more cost-effective.

Progress may not sit too well at the board-game factory, where 200 workers will be let go. But the company wouldn't be investing $10 million immediately -- and $40 million over the next few years -- into the Massachusetts plant if it didn't think the move would pay off in the long run.

The changes may be surprising to those who figured that Hasbro was hitting on all cylinders. After all, rivals like Mattel (NYSE: MAT) and RC2 (Nasdaq: RCRC) were slapped with brand-deflating toy recalls because of toxic paint. Toymakers like Hasbro and JAKKS Pacific (Nasdaq: JAKK) were supposed to benefit from shoppers' apprehension over the tainted brands.

Hasbro certainly hasn't been behaving like a company worried about cutting corners. It announced a $77.5 million deal to acquire interactive board game maker Cranium last week. That's a great move, since I can't be the only one who prefers the addictively immersive Cranium games over more conventional board games on family game night. I've grown to see Cranium as the Nintendo (OTC BB: NTDOY.PK) Wii of board games -- the best of compliments these days.

Despite the new lows, analysts are expecting good things out of Hasbro. They see profits for the recently concluded holiday quarter soaring by 32%. Wall Street expects flat growth in 2008, but that's why you can pick up Hasbro today at just 11 times forward earnings, with a beefy 2.7% dividend yield.

There's nothing wrong with picking up Boardwalk at Baltic Avenue prices.  

For related Foolishness:

• You Don't Know Hasbro
• Mattel Has Toys In the Attic
• RC2 Can't Be Too Safe