Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,060,000 shares, a decline of 12.5% from the July 31st total of 4,640,000 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,770,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several equities analysts recently issued reports on HAS shares. Bank of America upgraded Hasbro from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, June 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Hasbro from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Hasbro from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $59.00 target price on shares of Hasbro in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Hasbro from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $61.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hasbro currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.64.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HAS. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Hasbro by 27.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,381,255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $785,367,000 after acquiring an additional 3,273,563 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Hasbro in the first quarter valued at $82,523,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Hasbro in the fourth quarter valued at about $70,544,000. Samlyn Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hasbro by 87.4% during the 2nd quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 1,833,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,252,000 after buying an additional 855,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hasbro by 469.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 686,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,037,000 after buying an additional 565,645 shares during the period. 91.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Hasbro Stock Up 0.2 %
HAS stock traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $68.16. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,240,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,714,162. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $62.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.83. Hasbro has a twelve month low of $42.66 and a twelve month high of $73.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.95, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.50 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.72, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.62.
Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.44. The business had revenue of $995.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $941.38 million. Hasbro had a positive return on equity of 38.83% and a negative net margin of 22.78%. Hasbro’s revenue was down 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Hasbro will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.
Hasbro Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. Hasbro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -27.61%.
Hasbro Company Profile
Hasbro, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a toy and game company in the United States, Europe, Canada, Mexico, Latin America, Australia, China, and Hong Kong. The company operates through Consumer Products; Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming; Entertainment; and Corporate and Other segments.