Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Cuts Holdings in Newell Brands Inc. (NASDAQ:NWL)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its position in Newell Brands Inc. (NASDAQ:NWL) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 167,819 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,863 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Newell Brands were worth $1,457,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its position in Newell Brands by 4.5% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 54,796,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $494,810,000 after buying an additional 2,373,356 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Newell Brands by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,086,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,175,000 after acquiring an additional 200,321 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its holdings in Newell Brands by 35.9% during the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 6,302,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,910,000 after purchasing an additional 1,665,800 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Newell Brands by 481.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,406,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,819,000 after purchasing an additional 4,476,644 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Newell Brands by 20.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,059,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,658,000 after purchasing an additional 679,318 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on NWL. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Newell Brands from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. UBS Group cut shares of Newell Brands from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $10.00 to $8.50 in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Raymond James downgraded Newell Brands from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Newell Brands from $8.50 to $7.75 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Newell Brands from $7.50 to $8.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.61.

Newell Brands Stock Performance

Shares of Newell Brands stock opened at $8.05 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.18, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Newell Brands Inc. has a 1 year low of $6.49 and a 1 year high of $11.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $7.54 and its 200 day moving average is $7.78.

Newell Brands (NASDAQ:NWL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07). Newell Brands had a negative net margin of 3.70% and a positive return on equity of 11.21%. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.06) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Newell Brands Inc. will post 0.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Newell Brands Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. Newell Brands’s payout ratio is currently -38.89%.

Newell Brands 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.