Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Increases Stake in Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS - Free Report) by 88.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 87,585 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 41,119 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned approximately 0.06% of Hasbro worth $4,897,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HAS. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Hasbro by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,358,414 shares of the company's stock valued at $914,599,000 after purchasing an additional 404,527 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hasbro by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,371,002 shares of the company's stock worth $188,269,000 after acquiring an additional 59,794 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hasbro by 313.8% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 3,200,860 shares of the company's stock worth $178,960,000 after acquiring an additional 2,427,299 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Hasbro by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,159,524 shares of the company's stock worth $176,649,000 after acquiring an additional 701,660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hasbro by 28,552.6% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,789,613 shares of the company's stock worth $155,967,000 after acquiring an additional 2,779,877 shares during the last quarter. 91.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Hasbro from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down from $88.00) on shares of Hasbro in a report on Friday, February 21st. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Hasbro in a report on Thursday. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Hasbro to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Hasbro from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $72.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hasbro currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $79.89.

Hasbro Trading Up 1.1%

Hasbro stock traded up $0.74 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $67.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,522,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,720,814. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.85, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market cap of $9.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $58.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.35. Hasbro, Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.00 and a 12 month high of $73.46.

Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $887.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.60 million. Hasbro had a net margin of 9.32% and a return on equity of 47.93%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Hasbro, Inc. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Hasbro Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. Hasbro's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.41%.

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.