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

Newell Brands Inc. (NASDAQ:NWL) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders purchased 7,603 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 258% compared to the average volume of 2,126 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on NWL. 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 report on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Newell Brands from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Newell Brands from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Barclays raised shares of Newell Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $8.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded shares of Newell Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $10.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.00.

Newell Brands Trading Down 3.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ NWL opened at $11.01 on Friday. 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 current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The business’s 50 day moving average is $8.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.35, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.90.

Newell Brands (NASDAQ:NWL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 25th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16. Newell Brands had a negative net margin of 3.22% and a positive return on equity of 10.22%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.39 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Newell Brands will post 0.66 EPS for the current year.

Newell Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. Newell Brands’s payout ratio is -46.67%.

Insider Activity at Newell Brands

In related news, insider Bradford R. Turner sold 20,000 shares of Newell Brands stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.96, for a total value of $179,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 230,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,063,075.84. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Tracy L. Platt sold 23,343 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.31, for a total value 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

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NWL. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Newell Brands during the 3rd quarter worth $326,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Newell Brands in the third quarter worth about $225,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Newell Brands by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,635,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,973,000 after acquiring an additional 115,459 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in Newell Brands by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 50,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $389,000 after acquiring an additional 3,202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in Newell Brands by 35.4% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 42,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 11,201 shares during the period. 92.50% of the stock is currently owned by 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.