Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE:JWN) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE:JWN) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,280,000 shares, a growth of 6.1% from the September 30th total of 10,630,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,330,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.8 days. Currently, 11.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on JWN shares. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price target on Nordstrom from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Nordstrom from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nordstrom from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Nordstrom from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Nordstrom from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $23.00 in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nordstrom news, COO Alexis Depree sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total transaction of $464,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 169,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,928,479.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 5.78% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nordstrom

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JWN. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in shares of Nordstrom by 0.6% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 90,144 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,828,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its position in shares of Nordstrom by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 23,908 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $485,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Nordstrom by 33.1% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,648 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 659 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Nordstrom by 101.8% during the second quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,491 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 752 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in shares of Nordstrom by 7.3% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 11,236 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. 88.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nordstrom Trading Down 3.3 %

Shares of JWN traded down $0.77 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $22.61. 4,009,891 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,143,408. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $22.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.72. Nordstrom has a 12 month low of $12.88 and a 12 month high of $24.93. The stock has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.22 and a beta of 2.60.

Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.25. Nordstrom had a negative return on equity of 21.26% and a negative net margin of 1.44%. The company had revenue of $3.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. Nordstrom’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Nordstrom will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nordstrom Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. Nordstrom’s payout ratio is 44.44%.

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.