Hasbro Offers 15 Consecutive Years of Annual Dividend Hikes (HAS)

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Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) has been boosting its annual dividend distribution amount for the past 15 consecutive years, and its current 2.5% dividend yield is significantly higher than the average yields of the company’s industry peers.

In addition to growing its annual dividend distribution over 15 consecutive years, the company’s stock rose more than five-fold over the same period and ascended nearly 12% just over the past 12 months.

The company will pay its next dividend distribution on February 15, 2018, to all its shareholders of record prior to the company’s next ex-dividend date, which is set for January 29, 2018.

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Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS)

Founded in 1923 and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Hasbro, Inc., operates a play and entertainment company. The company’s U.S. and Canada segment markets and sells action figures, arts, crafts, electronic toys, electronic interactive products, dolls, infant products, play sets, preschool toys and plush products. This segment also offers vehicles and toy-related specialty products, as well as traditional board games and trading cards. The International segment markets and sells toys and game products primarily in Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. The Entertainment and Licensing segment engages in consumer products licensing and digital gaming, as well as movie and television entertainment operations.

The company’s current $0.57 quarterly distribution is 11.8% higher than the $0.51 payout for the first quarter of 2017. This new distribution amount converts to a $2.28 annualized payout and a 2.5% yield. However, the company has been hiking its quarterly dividend in the second quarter for the past decade. If the company follows suit this year and boosts its dividend the same $0.06 per share as it did last time, the quarterly distribution should rise to approximately $0.63 for each of the three remaining quarters in 2018. That increase would raise the total annual dividend distribution to $2.46 per share for 2018, a 2.62% yield at the current share price.

Hasbro has been distributing dividends to its shareholders since 1981. The last annual dividend cut came in 2001 and the company then paid a flat $1.20 dividend for the next three years before embarking on the current trend of 15 consecutive annual dividend hikes, starting in 2004. Since 2004, the company grew its annual dividend payout amount at an average rate of 21.7% each year. Because of this high compounding rate, the current annualized dividend amount of $2.28 is 19 times higher than the $1.20 amount from 2003. If the company boosts its quarterly dividend by the estimated $0.06 in the next quarter, the total annual dividend amount for 2018 will be more than 20 times higher than the 2003 annual distribution.

The current 2.5% yield might seem ordinary compared to some other sectors. However, Hasbro’s current 2.5% yield is 58% higher than the 1.56% average yield of the entire Consumer Goods sector and 133% higher than the 1.06% average yield of Hasbro’s peers in the Toys and Games market segment.

The share price retreated 1.2% from $82.48 on January 11, 2017, to its 52-week low price of $81.51 on January 26, 2017. After the January low the share price gained almost 43% before it reached its all-time high of $115.95 on July 21, 2017. However, immediately after hitting its peak, the share price fell 9.4% in just three days and continued did not stop falling until it lost a total of 23.5% by November 9, 2017.

The share price recovered some of those losses over the following 60 days and closed on January 10, 2018, at $92.31, which was 20% below the spike from July 2017. However, the $92.31 closing price was 11.9% higher than it was one year prior, 13.2% higher than the 52-week from February 2017 and 137% higher than it was five years earlier.

Even with some share price volatility, Hasbro, Inc. consistently provided steady returns for value investors. The company provided a 17% total return over the past 12 months, an 89% total return over the past three years and a total return of nearly 190% over the past five years.


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Ned Piplovic
Ned Piplovic, formerly an assistant editor of website content at Eagle Financial Publications, is an economic analyst and editor at Skousen Publishing. Additionally, Ned is also a teaching assistant at Chapman University to Mark Skousen, PhD, a free-market economist and Doti-Spogli Endowed Chair of Free Enterprise at the school. Ned graduated from Columbia University with a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Philosophy. He previously spent 15 years in corporate operations and financial management. Ned has written hundreds of articles for www.DividendInvestor.com and www.StockInvestor.com.
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