Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Buys 332,000 Shares of Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS - Free Report) by 268.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 455,472 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 332,000 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned about 0.33% of Hasbro worth $25,465,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Hasbro during the third quarter valued at about $501,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Hasbro during the third quarter worth approximately $45,000. Optimist Retirement Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hasbro in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $280,000. American Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Hasbro in the 3rd quarter valued at $634,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hasbro by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 153,904 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,130,000 after purchasing an additional 5,771 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.83% of the company's stock.

Hasbro Stock Up 0.4 %

HAS stock traded up $0.23 on Tuesday, reaching $61.57. 2,248,888 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,671,383. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.92. Hasbro, Inc. has a one year low of $49.00 and a one year high of $73.46. The company has a market cap of $8.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.51.

Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $887.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $770.60 million. Hasbro had a net margin of 9.32% and a return on equity of 47.93%. Hasbro's revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.61 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Hasbro, Inc. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Hasbro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.55%. Hasbro's payout ratio is currently 92.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on HAS. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Hasbro from $82.00 to $77.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup raised shares of Hasbro from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $72.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Hasbro from $68.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Hasbro to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded Hasbro to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $79.89.

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.