Newell Brands Inc. (NASDAQ:NWL) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Newell Brands Inc. (NASDAQ:NWL) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,630,000 shares, a decline of 15.0% from the December 15th total of 12,510,000 shares. Approximately 2.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 5,820,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Newell Brands news, insider Bradford R. Turner sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 230,254 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tracy L. Platt sold 23,343 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was 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. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Newell Brands in the fourth quarter worth about $72,431,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in 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 worth $36,282,000 after buying an additional 4,637,180 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Newell Brands by 29.2% during the 2nd 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Newell Brands by 18.8% in 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 buying an additional 2,634,114 shares during the period. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA increased its holdings in Newell Brands by 17.7% during the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 14,049,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,054,000 after purchasing an additional 2,109,892 shares in the last quarter. 92.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Newell Brands Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NWL traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $10.12. 4,361,586 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,176,267. The company has a market capitalization of $4.21 billion, a PE ratio of -16.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.89. Newell Brands has a 52-week low of $5.39 and a 52-week high of $11.78. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Newell Brands (NASDAQ:NWL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 25th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.39 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Newell Brands will post 0.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Newell Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. Newell Brands’s payout ratio is currently -46.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on NWL. Truist Financial raised shares of Newell Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $10.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Newell Brands from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Newell Brands from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Newell Brands from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Newell Brands from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.70.

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.