Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS) Shares Gap Up to $59.42

Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $59.42, but opened at $64.45. Hasbro shares last traded at $62.79, with a volume of 452,316 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $77.00 price target on shares of Hasbro in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Hasbro from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Hasbro from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $61.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Bank of America raised Hasbro from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Hasbro from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hasbro has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.00.

Hasbro Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $59.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.79. The company has a market cap of $8.70 billion, a PE ratio of -6.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.88, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $757.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.84 million. Hasbro had a positive return on equity of 25.41% and a negative net margin of 29.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.01 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Hasbro, Inc. will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Tarrant L. Sibley sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.26, for a total value of $783,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 53,003 shares in the company, valued at $3,193,960.78. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hasbro

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HAS. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hasbro by 56.2% during the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 464 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Hasbro by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 544 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares in the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Hasbro during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its holdings in shares of Hasbro by 118.4% during the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 841 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in Hasbro during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. 91.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.