Contrarian Capital Management L.L.C. Makes New $1.95 Million Investment in Newell Brands Inc. (NASDAQ:NWL)

Contrarian Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Newell Brands Inc. (NASDAQ:NWL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 195,729 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,949,000. Newell Brands accounts for about 0.7% of Contrarian Capital Management L.L.C.'s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of NWL. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Newell Brands by 233.6% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Newell Brands during the fourth quarter worth $72,431,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Newell Brands in the fourth quarter valued at $37,174,000. FIL Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Newell Brands by 109.2% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 5,720,884 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,980,000 after buying an additional 2,986,426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Newell Brands by 214.1% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,349,136 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,357,000 after buying an additional 2,282,949 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NWL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Newell Brands from $9.50 to $9.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on Newell Brands from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Newell Brands from $8.00 to $6.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Newell Brands from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Newell Brands from $7.75 to $4.75 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $8.92.

Newell Brands Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NWL traded up $0.32 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $5.04. The company had a trading volume of 6,104,524 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,714,867. Newell Brands Inc. has a 52-week low of $4.22 and a 52-week high of $11.78. The company's 50 day moving average price is $6.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.18. 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 $2.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.84.

Newell Brands (NASDAQ:NWL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 7th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 company posted $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Newell Brands Inc. will post 0.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Newell Brands Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Newell Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -53.85%.

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.