Newell Brands (NASDAQ:NWL) Trading Up 5% – Still a Buy?

Newell Brands Inc. (NASDAQ:NWL)’s share price shot up 5% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $6.75 and last traded at $6.78. 3,126,956 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 60% from the average session volume of 7,783,701 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.45.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NWL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their target price on Newell Brands from $10.50 to $7.75 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on shares of Newell Brands from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Newell Brands from $9.50 to $10.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Newell Brands from $9.50 to $9.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Newell Brands from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Newell Brands presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.81.

Newell Brands Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $9.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.63.

Newell Brands (NASDAQ:NWL) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. Newell Brands had a positive return on equity of 9.76% and a negative net margin of 2.85%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.22 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Newell Brands Inc. will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Newell Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Newell Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently -53.85%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Tracy L. Platt sold 23,343 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.31, for a total transaction of $240,666.33. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Newell Brands

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NWL. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Newell Brands by 233.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,527,609 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,695,000 after purchasing an additional 10,172,696 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Newell Brands in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $72,431,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Newell Brands by 5,324.8% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,724,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,282,000 after acquiring an additional 4,637,180 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Newell Brands during the 4th quarter worth $37,174,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Newell Brands by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 18,089,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $180,172,000 after purchasing an additional 3,188,718 shares in the last quarter. 92.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.