Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) Short Interest Update

Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) saw a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,480,000 shares, a growth of 6.7% from the September 30th total of 3,260,000 shares. Approximately 2.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,300,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Hasbro from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Hasbro from $59.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Hasbro from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Hasbro from $80.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Hasbro from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hasbro presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.67.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hasbro

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Hasbro during the first quarter worth $82,523,000. Samlyn Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Hasbro by 87.4% in the 2nd quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 1,833,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,252,000 after buying an additional 855,099 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Hasbro by 469.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 686,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,037,000 after buying an additional 565,645 shares during the period. Smith Group Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Hasbro during the third quarter worth about $32,032,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hasbro by 4,052.6% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 288,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,300,000 after acquiring an additional 281,454 shares during the period. 91.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hasbro Stock Performance

Shares of Hasbro stock opened at $65.63 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $69.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.61. Hasbro has a fifty-two week low of $42.66 and a fifty-two week high of $73.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.95, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.45. Hasbro had a positive return on equity of 38.83% and a negative net margin of 22.78%. The business had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.64 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Hasbro will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hasbro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 20th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.27%. Hasbro’s dividend payout ratio is presently -27.61%.

About Hasbro

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.