Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of 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 volume of 1,300,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Institutional Trading of Hasbro

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HAS. Brookstone Capital Management purchased a new position in Hasbro in the first quarter worth approximately $203,000. Leeward Investments LLC MA increased its position in shares of Hasbro by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 202,703 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,457,000 after purchasing an additional 7,934 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Hasbro by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 149,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,429,000 after buying an additional 2,082 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in Hasbro by 77.2% in the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 48,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,750,000 after buying an additional 21,204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Hasbro by 78.3% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 46,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,608,000 after buying an additional 20,262 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Hasbro Price Performance

NASDAQ:HAS traded down $1.02 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $65.63. 1,132,457 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,636,503. The company has a market cap 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. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $69.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.86. Hasbro has a 52-week low of $42.66 and a 52-week high of $73.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.95.

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

Hasbro Announces Dividend

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

Hasbro Company Profile

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.