Newell Brands Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:NWL)

Newell Brands Inc. (NASDAQ:NWL) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Traders purchased 9,577 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 415% compared to the average daily volume of 1,861 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on NWL. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Newell Brands from $8.00 to $6.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Newell Brands from $8.00 to $6.25 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Newell Brands from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Newell Brands from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Newell Brands from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $8.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.18.

Institutional Trading of Newell Brands

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NWL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Newell Brands by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,892,843 shares of the company’s stock worth $389,670,000 after purchasing an additional 739,295 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Newell Brands by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,747,330 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,327,000 after acquiring an additional 660,347 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Newell Brands by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,623,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,855,000 after acquiring an additional 434,762 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its stake in shares of Newell Brands by 35.1% in the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 8,511,972 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,884,000 after buying an additional 2,209,672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Newell Brands by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,211,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,555,000 after buying an additional 151,772 shares in the last quarter. 92.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Newell Brands Price Performance

Shares of NWL traded up $2.57 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $8.91. The stock had a trading volume of 26,316,399 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,880,343. The company’s fifty day moving average is $6.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Newell Brands has a 52 week low of $5.39 and a 52 week high of $11.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.89.

Newell Brands (NASDAQ:NWL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.15. Newell Brands had a negative net margin of 3.70% and a positive return on equity of 11.21%. The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.24 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Newell Brands will post 0.6 EPS for the current year.

Newell Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st were given a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Newell Brands’s dividend payout ratio is -38.89%.

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.