South Dakota Investment Council Decreases Stake in Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS)

South Dakota Investment Council reduced its position in Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 131,728 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council owned 0.09% of Hasbro worth $6,726,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Hasbro by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 544 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 408 shares in the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its position in Hasbro by 341.4% during the fourth quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 50,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,555,000 after purchasing an additional 38,695 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its position in Hasbro by 37.1% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in Hasbro by 155.2% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 34,292 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,751,000 after purchasing an additional 20,853 shares during the period. Finally, abrdn plc raised its position in Hasbro by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 502,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,634,000 after purchasing an additional 57,741 shares during the period. 91.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hasbro Trading Up 11.5 %

NASDAQ:HAS traded up $6.70 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $64.84. The stock had a trading volume of 5,478,105 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,748,101. Hasbro, Inc. has a one year low of $42.66 and a one year high of $73.57. The company has a market capitalization of $9.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.09, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $53.64 and a 200 day moving average of $50.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73.

Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.34. Hasbro had a positive return on equity of 16.34% and a negative net margin of 29.77%. The company had revenue of $757.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $739.84 million. Hasbro’s revenue was down 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.01 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Hasbro, Inc. will post 3.26 EPS for the current year.

Hasbro Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.32%. Hasbro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -26.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Hasbro in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. TheStreet downgraded Hasbro from a “c-” rating to a “d+” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised Hasbro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Hasbro from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Hasbro from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.80.

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.