Man Group plc Buys 197,263 Shares of Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPB)

Man Group plc increased its holdings in Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPB - Free Report) by 160.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 320,178 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 197,263 shares during the period. Man Group plc owned about 1.17% of Spectrum Brands worth $27,052,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Spectrum Brands in the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Spectrum Brands by 46.5% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,182 shares of the company's stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Spectrum Brands by 46.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,233 shares of the company's stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Spectrum Brands by 89.6% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,464 shares of the company's stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Spectrum Brands during the 4th quarter valued at $237,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SPB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Spectrum Brands from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Spectrum Brands from $114.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt dropped their price objective on shares of Spectrum Brands from $106.00 to $86.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Spectrum Brands from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Spectrum Brands from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $94.00 to $102.00 in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Spectrum Brands currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.17.

Spectrum Brands Trading Down 2.8%

Spectrum Brands stock traded down $1.83 during trading on Monday, reaching $63.64. The company had a trading volume of 359,414 shares, compared to its average volume of 419,077. Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $56.50 and a 12-month high of $96.62. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $65.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.64, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 2.40.

Spectrum Brands (NYSE:SPB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.67). The firm had revenue of $675.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $701.00 million. Spectrum Brands had a net margin of 4.01% and a return on equity of 6.44%. Spectrum Brands's revenue for the quarter was down 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Spectrum Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th will be issued a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 27th. Spectrum Brands's payout ratio is 89.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David M. Maura sold 5,180 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.77, for a total transaction of $330,328.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 718,427 shares in the company, valued at $45,814,089.79. This represents a 0.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Spectrum Brands

Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc operates as a branded consumer products and home essentials company in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific regions. It operates through three segments: Home and Personal Care; Global Pet Care; and Home and Garden. The Home and Personal Care segment provides home appliances under the Black & Decker, Russell Hobbs, George Foreman, PowerXL, Emeril Legasse, Copper Chef, Toastmaster, Juiceman, Farberware, and Breadman brands; and personal care products under the Remington brand.