Newell Brands Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:NWL)

Newell Brands Inc. (NASDAQ:NWL) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Traders bought 7,603 put options on the company. This is an increase of 258% compared to the typical volume of 2,126 put options.

Newell Brands Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NWL opened at $11.01 on Friday. Newell Brands has a 1 year low of $5.39 and a 1 year high of $11.78. The company has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a PE ratio of -18.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.90. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $8.96 and its 200 day moving average is $7.77.

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, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16. Newell Brands had a positive return on equity of 10.22% and a negative net margin of 3.22%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. Newell Brands’s revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Newell Brands will post 0.66 EPS for the current year.

Newell Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. Newell Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently -46.67%.

Insider Transactions at Newell Brands

In related news, insider Tracy L. Platt sold 23,343 shares of Newell Brands stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.31, for a total transaction of $240,666.33. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bradford R. Turner sold 20,000 shares of Newell Brands 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 sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Newell Brands

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Newell Brands by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,959,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,050,000 after acquiring an additional 82,337 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in Newell Brands by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,233,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,476,000 after acquiring an additional 88,164 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP boosted its position in Newell Brands by 135.6% during the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 98,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $758,000 after acquiring an additional 56,800 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its position in Newell Brands by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 14,723,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,073,000 after acquiring an additional 674,015 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 2,668,384 shares in the last quarter. 92.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NWL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial upgraded Newell Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $10.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Newell Brands from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Newell Brands from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Newell Brands from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Newell Brands from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $8.00 to $10.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.00.

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.