Hasbro’s (HAS) “Overweight” Rating Reaffirmed at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS) in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has a $84.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $88.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. 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. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Hasbro from $82.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their target price on Hasbro from $68.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.00.

Hasbro Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HAS opened at $67.56 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $58.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.21. Hasbro has a 52 week low of $48.63 and a 52 week high of $73.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.85, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.42 billion, a PE ratio of 24.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.64.

Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Hasbro had a return on equity of 47.93% and a net margin of 9.32%. Analysts predict that Hasbro will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hasbro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.14%. Hasbro’s payout ratio is 101.82%.

Insider Activity at Hasbro

In other Hasbro news, EVP Matthew Edward Austin sold 1,718 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.06, for a total value of $111,773.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,396,029.68. This represents a 4.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HAS. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hasbro in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Hasbro by 224.8% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hasbro in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Hasbro by 120.1% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 482 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Hasbro in the third quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors own 91.83% of the company’s stock.

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.