Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS) Raised to "Strong-Buy" at Monness Crespi & Hardt

Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS - Free Report) to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on HAS. StockNews.com lowered shares of Hasbro from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley reissued 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. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Hasbro from $68.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Hasbro from $82.00 to $77.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson raised Hasbro to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hasbro has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $79.89.

Hasbro Price Performance

Shares of Hasbro stock traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $61.34. 2,345,172 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,669,073. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.99. 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 market cap of $8.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.51. Hasbro has a 52 week low of $49.00 and a 52 week 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $887.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $770.60 million. Hasbro had a return on equity of 47.93% and a net margin of 9.32%. The business's revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Hasbro will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Hasbro Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.56%. Hasbro's dividend payout ratio is 92.41%.

Institutional Trading of Hasbro

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HAS. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hasbro by 28,552.6% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,789,613 shares of the company's stock valued at $155,967,000 after buying an additional 2,779,877 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Hasbro by 313.8% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 3,200,860 shares of the company's stock valued at $178,960,000 after acquiring an additional 2,427,299 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Hasbro during the 4th quarter worth about $96,359,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Hasbro by 28.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,159,524 shares of the company's stock valued at $176,649,000 after purchasing an additional 701,660 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Hasbro by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,643,381 shares of the company's stock worth $147,791,000 after purchasing an additional 507,054 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.83% of the company's stock.

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.