Investors Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Newell Brands (NASDAQ:NWL)

Newell Brands Inc. (NASDAQ:NWL - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders acquired 7,603 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 258% compared to the average volume of 2,126 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on NWL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Newell Brands from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Newell Brands from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Truist Financial upgraded Newell Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $10.00 to $17.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays upgraded Newell Brands from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $8.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Newell Brands from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $10.00.

Newell Brands Trading Down 3.8 %

Shares of NWL stock traded down $0.44 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $11.01. The company had a trading volume of 6,116,336 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,556,080. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.58 billion, a PE ratio of -18.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.90. The company's fifty day moving average is $8.96 and its 200 day moving average is $7.77. Newell Brands has a fifty-two week low of $5.39 and a fifty-two week high of $11.78.

Newell Brands (NASDAQ:NWL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 25th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.16. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. Newell Brands had a positive return on equity of 10.22% and a negative net margin of 3.22%. Newell Brands's revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.39 EPS. Research analysts expect that Newell Brands will post 0.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Newell Brands Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Newell Brands's payout ratio is presently -46.67%.

Insider Transactions at Newell Brands

In related 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 transaction of $240,666.33. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bradford R. Turner sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.96, for a total transaction of $179,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 230,254 shares in the company, valued at $2,063,075.84. The trade was a 7.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Newell Brands by 56.4% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 22,820 shares of the company's stock worth $146,000 after acquiring an additional 8,226 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Newell Brands during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $92,000. Brookstone Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Newell Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at $82,000. Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Newell Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Newell Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,034,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.50% of the company's stock.

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.