Nordstrom Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:JWN)

Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE:JWN) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 17,013 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 264% compared to the typical daily volume of 4,671 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on JWN. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Nordstrom in a research report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Nordstrom from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research 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 company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Argus downgraded shares of Nordstrom from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, December 30th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Nordstrom from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $14.50 to $24.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.17.

Nordstrom Stock Performance

JWN opened at $24.31 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.48 and a beta of 2.51. The company has a fifty day moving average of $24.23 and a 200 day moving average of $23.23. Nordstrom has a fifty-two week low of $16.78 and a fifty-two week high of $24.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 26th. The specialty retailer reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.11. Nordstrom had a negative net margin of 1.57% and a negative return on equity of 18.04%. The business had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.34 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nordstrom will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nordstrom Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. Nordstrom’s payout ratio is currently 48.41%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nordstrom

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in JWN. Pentwater Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Nordstrom in the 4th quarter worth $61,582,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Nordstrom during the 4th quarter worth about $56,026,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Nordstrom during the 4th quarter worth about $33,480,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nordstrom during the 4th quarter worth about $21,736,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nordstrom by 147.4% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 1,218,365 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $27,401,000 after purchasing an additional 725,803 shares during the period. 88.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nordstrom Company Profile

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.