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

Newell Brands Inc. (NASDAQ:NWL) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors acquired 7,603 put options on the company. This is an increase of 258% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,126 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on NWL shares. Truist Financial raised shares of Newell Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $10.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Newell Brands from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Newell Brands from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Newell Brands from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Newell Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $8.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.00.

Newell Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NWL traded down $0.45 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $11.00. 1,937,867 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,536,906. Newell Brands has a 1 year low of $5.39 and a 1 year high of $11.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $8.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $7.75. The stock has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.90.

Newell Brands (NASDAQ:NWL) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 25th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.16. Newell Brands had a positive return on equity of 10.22% and a negative net margin of 3.22%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Newell Brands will post 0.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Newell Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Newell Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently -46.67%.

Insider Activity at Newell Brands

In other Newell Brands news, insider Bradford R. Turner sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.96, for a total value of $179,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 230,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,063,075.84. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Tracy L. Platt sold 23,343 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.31, for a total transaction of $240,666.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Newell Brands

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Newell Brands by 5,324.8% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,724,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,282,000 after acquiring an additional 4,637,180 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Newell Brands by 29.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,818,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,753,000 after purchasing an additional 2,668,384 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Newell Brands by 18.8% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 16,618,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,629,000 after purchasing an additional 2,634,114 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its position in Newell Brands by 17.7% during the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 14,049,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,054,000 after purchasing an additional 2,109,892 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Newell Brands by 106.7% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,546,418 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,042,000 after buying an additional 1,314,514 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.50% of the company’s stock.

About Newell Brands

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.