Short Interest in Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) Expands By 6.7%

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HAS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Hasbro from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Hasbro from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Hasbro from $59.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Hasbro from $80.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Hasbro from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hasbro

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hasbro by 224.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Hasbro during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in shares of Hasbro by 290.1% during the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 472 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hasbro in the second quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in Hasbro during the 2nd quarter valued at $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.83% of the company’s stock.

Hasbro Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of HAS traded down $1.02 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $65.63. The stock had a trading volume of 1,132,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,636,503. Hasbro has a 12-month low of $42.66 and a 12-month high of $73.46. The firm has a market cap of $9.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.95, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.46. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.85.

Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.30 billion. Hasbro had a positive return on equity of 38.83% and a negative net margin of 22.78%. The company’s revenue was down 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.64 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Hasbro will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hasbro Dividend Announcement

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