Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Buys 2,427,299 Shares of Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) by 313.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,200,860 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,427,299 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Hasbro were worth $178,960,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 2,779,877 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Hasbro in the 4th quarter worth about $96,359,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Hasbro by 28.5% during 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 last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Hasbro by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,643,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,791,000 after purchasing an additional 507,054 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Hasbro by 40.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,485,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,068,000 after buying an additional 426,130 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.83% of the company’s stock.

Hasbro Stock Performance

Hasbro stock opened at $60.37 on Friday. Hasbro, Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.00 and a 1-year high of $73.46. The firm has a market cap of $8.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.95, a P/E/G 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $59.38 and a 200-day moving average of $61.22.

Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.37. Hasbro had a return on equity of 47.93% and a net margin of 9.32%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.61 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Hasbro, Inc. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Hasbro Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Hasbro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on HAS. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Hasbro from $82.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $84.00 target price (down previously from $88.00) on shares of Hasbro in a report on Friday, February 21st. DA Davidson raised shares of Hasbro to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Hasbro to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Hasbro from $68.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.22.

Hasbro Company Profile

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.