Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Trims Stake in Hasbro, Inc. $HAS

Key Points

• Epoch Investment Partners Inc. reduced its stake in Hasbro, selling 53,062 shares during the first quarter, resulting in ownership of about 1.118 million shares valued at approximately $68.7 million.
• Comerica Bank and several other institutional investors increased their stakes in Hasbro, highlighting a trend of significant interest from institutional investors who now own 91.83% of Hasbro's stock.
• Hasbro recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.70 per share, yielding 3.5%, alongside positive quarterly earnings, reporting earnings per share of $1.30, beating estimates significantly.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lowered its position in Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS - Free Report) by 4.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,117,967 shares of the company's stock after selling 53,062 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned about 0.80% of Hasbro worth $68,744,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in HAS. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Hasbro by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,464,038 shares of the company's stock worth $1,012,374,000 after purchasing an additional 105,624 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Hasbro by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,287,647 shares of the company's stock worth $140,652,000 after buying an additional 227,477 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Hasbro by 7.4% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,422,977 shares of the company's stock valued at $87,499,000 after acquiring an additional 98,425 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of Hasbro by 15.3% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,289,843 shares of the company's stock valued at $79,312,000 after acquiring an additional 170,749 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Hasbro by 2.3% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,217,361 shares of the company's stock worth $74,856,000 after purchasing an additional 27,547 shares during the last quarter. 91.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hasbro Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HAS traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $81.17. The company's stock had a trading volume of 991,055 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,722,827. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.31. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $77.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.30. Hasbro, Inc. has a one year low of $49.00 and a one year high of $82.19.

Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.52. Hasbro had a negative net margin of 13.37% and a positive return on equity of 64.49%. The business had revenue of $980.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $891.82 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. Hasbro's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Hasbro, Inc. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hasbro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 20th will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 20th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Hasbro's payout ratio is -68.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on HAS shares. Bank of America upped their price objective on Hasbro from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Hasbro from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Hasbro from $79.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Hasbro from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Roth Capital increased their target price on shares of Hasbro from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.42.

Insider Activity at Hasbro

In related news, CEO Christian P. Cocks sold 27,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.92, for a total transaction of $2,193,976.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 249,861 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,719,030.12. This represents a 10.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Timothy J. Kilpin sold 8,557 shares of Hasbro stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.44, for a total value of $696,882.08. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 44,301 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,607,873.44. The trade was a 16.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 37,359 shares of company stock worth $2,970,828. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.