Short Interest in Newell Brands Inc. (NASDAQ:NWL) Grows By 21.0%

Newell Brands Inc. (NASDAQ:NWL) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 22,610,000 shares, an increase of 21.0% from the February 28th total of 18,680,000 shares. Approximately 5.5% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 8,340,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Newell Brands

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NWL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Newell Brands by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,892,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $467,053,000 after acquiring an additional 1,974,823 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Newell Brands by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 18,089,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $180,172,000 after purchasing an additional 3,188,718 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Newell Brands by 233.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,527,609 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,695,000 after purchasing an additional 10,172,696 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its position in Newell Brands by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 12,760,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,091,000 after purchasing an additional 1,363,913 shares during the period. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Newell Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $72,431,000. 92.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Newell Brands Stock Up 0.6 %

Newell Brands stock traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $6.22. The company had a trading volume of 4,308,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,295,096. Newell Brands has a 12 month low of $5.39 and a 12 month high of $11.78. The company has a market capitalization of $2.59 billion, a PE ratio of -11.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $7.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

Newell Brands (NASDAQ:NWL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 negative net margin of 2.85% and a positive return on equity of 9.76%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.22 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Newell Brands will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Newell Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Newell Brands’s payout ratio is currently -53.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NWL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Newell Brands from $9.50 to $10.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Truist Financial upgraded Newell Brands from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $10.00 to $17.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Newell Brands from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Newell Brands from $10.50 to $7.75 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Newell Brands from $9.50 to $9.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.58.

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.