Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Sells 44,974 Shares of Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) by 63.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 26,405 shares of the company’s stock after selling 44,974 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hasbro were worth $1,476,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HAS. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hasbro during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,012,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Hasbro during the 3rd quarter worth about $219,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Hasbro by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 26,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,892,000 after purchasing an additional 1,351 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in Hasbro by 98.2% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 178,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,879,000 after purchasing an additional 88,253 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Hasbro by 23.5% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 2,618 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on HAS shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Hasbro from $82.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (down previously from $88.00) on shares of Hasbro in a report on Friday, February 21st. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Hasbro from $68.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Hasbro from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.22.

Hasbro Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HAS opened at $63.04 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $59.60 and a 200-day moving average of $64.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.80 billion, a PE ratio of 22.92, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.85. Hasbro, Inc. has a 12 month low of $50.51 and a 12 month high of $73.46.

Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Hasbro had a net margin of 9.32% and a return on equity of 47.93%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Hasbro, Inc. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hasbro Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Hasbro’s dividend payout ratio is 101.82%.

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.