Hasbro, Inc. $HAS Stock: Candriam S.C.A. Decreases Stake

Candriam S.C.A. reduced its stake in shares of Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) by 21.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 128,791 shares of the company’s stock after selling 35,482 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Hasbro were worth $11,334,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Hasbro in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,204,689,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Hasbro during the 2nd quarter valued at about $289,258,000. Amundi boosted its position in Hasbro by 21.1% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,699,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,079,000 after buying an additional 296,277 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Hasbro in the 2nd quarter valued at about $130,731,000. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its position in Hasbro by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,174,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,894,000 after buying an additional 12,182 shares during the period. 91.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hasbro news, CFO Gina Goetter sold 7,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.99, for a total transaction of $864,105.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 72,577 shares in the company, valued at $8,635,937.23. This represents a 9.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Holly Barbacovi sold 5,057 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.20, for a total value of $476,369.40. Following the sale, the insider owned 37,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,531,181.20. This represents a 11.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HAS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Hasbro from $125.00 to $111.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Hasbro from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Argus boosted their price target on Hasbro from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Hasbro from $120.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Hasbro from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.93.

Hasbro Trading Up 1.7%

NASDAQ HAS opened at $120.92 on Tuesday. Hasbro, Inc. has a one year low of $74.78 and a one year high of $124.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company has a market capitalization of $16.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.36. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $99.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.35.

Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $1.04. Hasbro had a net margin of 18.44% and a return on equity of 140.60%. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.68 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Hasbro, Inc. will post 6.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hasbro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 18th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 18th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Hasbro’s payout ratio is 41.85%.

About Hasbro

Hasbro, Inc is a global play and entertainment company that develops and sells toys, games and digital experiences, and licenses its brands for consumer products and entertainment. Its portfolio includes Transformers, Play-Doh, Nerf, Monopoly, My Little Pony, Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons.

Founded in 1923 as Hassenfeld Brothers, the company began as a family business before expanding into toys and games. Hasbro serves consumers in markets around the world through its products, licensing partnerships and digital offerings.

Hasbro is led by Chief Executive Officer Chris Cocks, who took the role in 2022.