Cerity Partners LLC Buys 5,627 Shares of Newell Brands Inc. (NASDAQ:NWL)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Newell Brands Inc. (NASDAQ:NWL) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 97,350 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,627 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Newell Brands were worth $933,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Newell Brands by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,992,076 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,761,000 after buying an additional 178,028 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in Newell Brands by 194.4% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 215,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,121,000 after acquiring an additional 142,361 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Newell Brands during the 4th quarter worth $9,877,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Newell Brands by 751.9% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 100,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $999,000 after acquiring an additional 88,483 shares during the period. Finally, AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Newell Brands in the 4th quarter worth $434,000. 92.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Newell Brands Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NWL opened at $4.70 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $6.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.22. Newell Brands Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $4.22 and a fifty-two week high of $11.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Newell Brands (NASDAQ:NWL) last released 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 firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Newell Brands Inc. will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Newell Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.96%. Newell Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -53.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NWL has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on Newell Brands from $8.00 to $5.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Newell Brands from $8.00 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Newell Brands from $7.75 to $4.75 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Newell Brands from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Newell Brands from $9.50 to $9.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.14.

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.