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

Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,820,000 shares, a growth of 7.2% from the March 31st total of 8,230,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,800,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.9 days. Approximately 6.8% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HAS. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Hasbro from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hasbro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Hasbro from a “c-” rating to a “d+” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Hasbro from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Hasbro from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.36.

Hasbro Stock Down 4.6 %

Shares of HAS stock opened at $61.30 on Wednesday. Hasbro has a 12 month low of $42.66 and a 12 month high of $73.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.88. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.17.

Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.34. Hasbro had a negative net margin of 29.60% and a positive return on equity of 25.41%. The business had revenue of $757.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $739.84 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.01 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Hasbro will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hasbro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.57%. Hasbro’s payout ratio is currently -27.61%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hasbro

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Studio Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Hasbro during the third quarter worth $26,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Hasbro by 56.2% during the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 464 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Hasbro by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 544 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV bought a new position in Hasbro during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new position in Hasbro during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. 91.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.