Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPB)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPB) by 18.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,465 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Spectrum Brands were worth $276,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Spectrum Brands during the fourth quarter worth $1,424,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Spectrum Brands during the third quarter worth $4,452,000. Fifth Third Bancorp acquired a new stake in shares of Spectrum Brands during the fourth quarter worth $71,000. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Spectrum Brands by 32.5% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 72,330 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,667,000 after buying an additional 17,753 shares during the period. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its stake in shares of Spectrum Brands by 5.8% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 152,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,968,000 after buying an additional 8,431 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on SPB. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Spectrum Brands from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Spectrum Brands from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $86.00 target price (up from $83.00) on shares of Spectrum Brands in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Spectrum Brands from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of Spectrum Brands from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $83.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Spectrum Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.17.

Spectrum Brands Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Spectrum Brands stock opened at $80.51 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.97. The company has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 1.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.20. Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $63.64 and a fifty-two week high of $89.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 2.75 and a current ratio of 3.36.

Spectrum Brands (NYSE:SPB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $692.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $674.20 million. Spectrum Brands had a net margin of 63.89% and a return on equity of 4.66%. The company’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.32) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spectrum Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Spectrum Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 3.65%.

About Spectrum Brands

Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc operates as a branded consumer products and home essentials company in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific regions. It operates through three segments: Home and Personal Care; Global Pet Care; and Home and Garden. The Home and Personal Care segment provides home appliances under the Black & Decker, Russell Hobbs, George Foreman, PowerXL, Emeril Legasse, Copper Chef, Toastmaster, Juiceman, Farberware, and Breadman brands; and personal care products under the Remington brand.