Newell Brands (NASDAQ:NWL) Upgraded to “Buy” at Truist Financial

Truist Financial upgraded shares of Newell Brands (NASDAQ:NWL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $17.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $10.00.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on NWL. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Newell Brands from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays upgraded shares of Newell Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $8.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Newell Brands from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Citigroup downgraded Newell Brands from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Newell Brands from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Newell Brands has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.00.

Newell Brands Trading Up 11.6 %

Shares of Newell Brands stock opened at $11.51 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $8.57 and its 200 day moving average is $7.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.79 billion, a PE ratio of -19.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.90. Newell Brands has a 1 year low of $5.39 and a 1 year high of $11.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43.

Newell Brands (NASDAQ:NWL) last announced its quarterly 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 negative net margin of 3.22% and a positive return on equity of 10.22%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Newell Brands will post 0.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Newell Brands Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Newell Brands’s payout ratio is -46.67%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bradford R. Turner sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.96, for a total transaction of $179,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 230,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,063,075.84. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Tracy L. Platt sold 23,343 shares of Newell Brands stock in a transaction on 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 company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Newell Brands

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Newell Brands during the 3rd quarter worth $326,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Newell Brands during the third quarter worth about $225,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Newell Brands by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,635,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,973,000 after purchasing an additional 115,459 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in Newell Brands by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 50,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $389,000 after buying an additional 3,202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Newell Brands by 35.4% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 42,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 11,201 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.