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

Newell Brands Inc. (NASDAQ:NWL) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,630,000 shares, a drop of 15.0% from the December 15th total of 12,510,000 shares. Currently, 2.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 5,820,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NWL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Newell Brands from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Newell Brands from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Newell Brands from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Newell Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $10.00 to $17.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Newell Brands from $9.50 to $10.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Newell Brands

In other Newell Brands news, insider Bradford R. Turner sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 230,254 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,063,075.84. This trade represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Tracy L. Platt sold 23,343 shares of the firm’s 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 Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NWL. Quarry LP grew its position in Newell Brands by 104.4% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 7,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 4,056 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Newell Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $70,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Newell Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $79,000. Claro Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Newell Brands during the 3rd quarter valued at about $79,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Newell Brands by 24.8% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 8,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 1,666 shares during the last quarter. 92.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Newell Brands Stock Performance

Newell Brands stock opened at $10.16 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.99. Newell Brands has a 1-year low of $5.39 and a 1-year high of $11.78.

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

Newell Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. Newell Brands’s payout ratio 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.