Newell Brands Inc. (NASDAQ:NWL) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Newell Brands Inc. (NASDAQ:NWL) saw 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. Based on an average daily volume of 5,820,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days. Currently, 2.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Transactions at Newell Brands

In related 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 value of $179,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction 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 that occurred 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. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Newell Brands

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Newell Brands by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 16,618,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,629,000 after acquiring an additional 2,634,114 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its holdings in Newell Brands by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 14,723,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,073,000 after acquiring an additional 674,015 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in 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 during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. increased its stake in shares of Newell Brands by 1.4% during the second quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 10,227,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,558,000 after buying an additional 137,441 shares during the period. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Newell Brands in the 4th quarter worth $72,431,000. 92.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Newell Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Newell Brands stock traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $10.12. 4,361,586 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,176,267. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.87, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.89. Newell Brands has a 12-month low of $5.39 and a 12-month 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.30.

Newell Brands (NASDAQ:NWL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 25th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.16. Newell Brands had a positive return on equity of 10.22% and a negative net margin of 3.22%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.39 earnings per share. Newell Brands’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Newell Brands will post 0.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Newell Brands Announces Dividend

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

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.