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

Newell Brands Inc. (NASDAQ:NWL) was the target of a large decline in short interest in 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 trading volume of 5,820,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days. Currently, 2.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Newell Brands

In other Newell Brands news, insider Tracy L. Platt sold 23,343 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.31, for a total value of $240,666.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford R. Turner sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Newell Brands

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NWL. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Newell Brands in the 4th quarter valued at about $72,431,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Newell Brands by 5,324.8% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,724,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,282,000 after acquiring an additional 4,637,180 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Newell Brands by 29.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,818,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,753,000 after acquiring an additional 2,668,384 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Newell Brands by 18.8% during the third 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 period. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA raised its stake in Newell Brands by 17.7% during the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 14,049,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,054,000 after acquiring an additional 2,109,892 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial raised shares of Newell Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $10.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays raised shares of Newell Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $8.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Newell Brands from $9.50 to $10.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Newell Brands from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.60.

Newell Brands Stock Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ:NWL opened at $10.16 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $9.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.26. Newell Brands has a 1-year low of $5.39 and a 1-year high of $11.78.

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

Newell Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.76%. Newell Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -46.67%.

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.