Newell Brands Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:NWL)

Newell Brands Inc. (NASDAQ:NWL) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 5,385 call options on the company. This is an increase of 281% compared to the average volume of 1,415 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NWL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Newell Brands from $9.00 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 12th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Newell Brands from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $10.00 to $8.50 in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Newell Brands from $8.50 to $7.75 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Newell Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Newell Brands from $9.00 to $7.50 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Newell Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.13.

Newell Brands Price Performance

NASDAQ NWL opened at $8.03 on Friday. Newell Brands has a 12 month low of $6.49 and a 12 month high of $12.75. The stock has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.45, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50 day moving average is $7.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Newell Brands (NASDAQ:NWL) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.05. Newell Brands had a negative net margin of 4.77% and a positive return on equity of 10.24%. The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Newell Brands will post 0.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Newell Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. Newell Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -29.47%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Newell Brands

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in shares of Newell Brands in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Newell Brands by 1,935.1% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 2,593 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Newell Brands in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Resources Management Corp CT ADV grew its holdings in shares of Newell Brands by 6,000.0% in the second quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 3,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new position in shares of Newell Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. 92.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Newell Brands Company Profile

Newell Brands Inc engages in the design, manufacture, sourcing, and distribution of consumer and commercial products worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Home and Commercial Solutions, Learning and Development, and Outdoor and Recreation. The Commercial Solutions segment provides commercial cleaning and maintenance solution products under the Rubbermaid, Rubbermaid Commercial Products, Mapa, and Spontex brands; closet and garage organization products; hygiene systems and material handling solutions; household products, such as kitchen appliances under the Crockpot, Mr.