Hasbro Raises Dividend by 20%

NEW YORK - Toy giant Hasbro, which has been looking to become a bigger player in the film and TV business, on Thursday raised its quarterly cash dividend by 20 percent.

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The dividend will now amount to 36 cents per share, up from 30 cents previously.

The dividend increase came after Hasbro recently warned that its full-year earnings growth came in below expectations amid a weaker-than-hoped fourth-quarter performance in the U.S. and Canada.

“Hasbro’s proven track record of healthy cash generation and effective capital management has enabled us to deliver our third consecutive year of a 20 percent or greater dividend increase,” said president and CEO Brian Goldner. “The board of director’s decision to raise the dividend is indicative of Hasbro’s commitment to creating shareholder value through the execution of our branded-play strategy and returning cash to shareholders.”

Hasbro also just announced that it will make Stretch Armstrong with Ryan Kavanaugh's Relativity Media and a live action version of board game Candy Land, starring Adam Sandler, with Sony as Universal ended a four-year-old deal with the toy giant.

Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com

Twitter: @georgszalai