Nordstrom Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:JWN)

Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE:JWN) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors bought 17,013 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 264% compared to the typical volume of 4,671 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nordstrom

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of JWN. Creative Planning grew its position in Nordstrom by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 12,025 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $270,000 after acquiring an additional 2,238 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Nordstrom by 57.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,839 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Nordstrom by 42.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 8,250 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $183,000 after acquiring an additional 2,450 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in shares of Nordstrom by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 11,236 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 760 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nordstrom in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $270,000. 88.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Nordstrom in a research note on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Nordstrom from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Nordstrom from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group raised shares of Nordstrom from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $14.50 to $24.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of Nordstrom in a report on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nordstrom has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.17.

Nordstrom Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:JWN traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $24.35. 494,974 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,159,965. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.51 and a beta of 2.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 1.14. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $24.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.22. Nordstrom has a 12 month low of $16.78 and a 12 month high of $24.99.

Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The specialty retailer reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.34 billion. Nordstrom had a negative return on equity of 18.04% and a negative net margin of 1.57%. Nordstrom’s revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Nordstrom will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Nordstrom Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. Nordstrom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.41%.

About Nordstrom

Nordstrom, Inc, a fashion retailer, provides apparels, shoes, beauty, accessories, and home goods for women, men, young adults, and children. It offers a range of brand-name and private-label merchandise through various channels, such as Nordstrom branded stores and online at Nordstrom.com; Nordstrom.ca; Nordstrom stores; Nordstrom Rack stores; Nordstrom Locals; ASOS; Nordstromrack.com; mobile application; and clearance stores under the Last Chance name.