190,700 Shares in Newell Brands Inc. (NASDAQ:NWL) Acquired by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Newell Brands Inc. (NASDAQ:NWL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 190,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,655,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in Newell Brands by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 16,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 532 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Newell Brands by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 12,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,000 after buying an additional 593 shares during the period. Kinneret Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Newell Brands by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC now owns 33,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $708,000 after buying an additional 739 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Newell Brands by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 58,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,261,000 after purchasing an additional 745 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Newell Brands by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 18,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.50% of the company’s stock.

Newell Brands Trading Down 0.4 %

Newell Brands stock opened at $6.88 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $7.75. Newell Brands Inc. has a 12 month low of $6.49 and a 12 month high of $12.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.63.

Newell Brands (NASDAQ:NWL) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. Newell Brands had a positive return on equity of 10.24% and a negative net margin of 4.77%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.16 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Newell Brands Inc. will post 0.56 EPS for the current year.

Newell Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. Newell Brands’s payout ratio is currently -29.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Newell Brands from $9.00 to $7.50 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Newell Brands from $9.00 to $7.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Barclays raised their target price on Newell Brands from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Newell Brands from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, UBS Group cut Newell Brands from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $10.00 to $8.50 in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $9.13.

Newell Brands 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.