Newell Brands Inc. (NASDAQ:NWL) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Newell Brands Inc. (NASDAQ:NWL) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 17,900,000 shares, an increase of 32.8% from the January 31st total of 13,480,000 shares. Approximately 4.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 7,410,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Newell Brands Stock Up 5.2 %

NASDAQ:NWL opened at $6.69 on Thursday. Newell Brands has a 1 year low of $5.39 and a 1 year high of $11.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.87, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $8.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.59.

Newell Brands (NASDAQ:NWL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Newell Brands will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Newell Brands Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.19%. Newell Brands’s dividend payout ratio is currently -53.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Newell Brands news, insider Tracy L. Platt sold 23,343 shares of Newell Brands stock in a transaction that occurred 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 SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Newell Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Newell Brands during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Newell Brands by 140.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 7,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 4,617 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Newell Brands by 24.8% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 8,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 1,666 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Newell Brands during the third quarter worth about $70,000. 92.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on NWL. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Newell Brands from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Newell Brands from $9.50 to $10.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Newell Brands from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Newell Brands from $10.50 to $7.75 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.81.

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.