Nordstrom Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:JWN)

Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE:JWN) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors purchased 16,675 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 228% compared to the average daily volume of 5,084 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JWN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Nordstrom from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. KeyCorp cut shares of Nordstrom from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their target price on Nordstrom from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group boosted their target price on Nordstrom from $13.00 to $14.50 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Nordstrom from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nordstrom presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.29.

Nordstrom Stock Performance

NYSE:JWN opened at $22.62 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65. Nordstrom has a twelve month low of $14.80 and a twelve month high of $24.99. The company has a fifty day moving average of $22.85 and a 200-day moving average of $22.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.41 and a beta of 2.59.

Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The specialty retailer reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.11. Nordstrom had a negative return on equity of 18.04% and a negative net margin of 1.57%. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nordstrom will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

Nordstrom Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Nordstrom’s payout ratio is 48.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nordstrom

In related news, COO Alexis Depree sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total transaction of $464,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 169,331 shares in the company, valued at $3,928,479.20. The trade was a 10.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 5.78% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Nordstrom by 355.9% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,272 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 993 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Nordstrom by 101.8% in the second quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,491 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 752 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nordstrom in the second quarter worth about $39,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Nordstrom by 10,045.8% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,435 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 2,411 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Nordstrom during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.73% of the company’s stock.

Nordstrom Company Profile

Nordstrom, Inc, a fashion retailer, provides apparels, shoes, beauty, accessories, and home goods for women, men, young adults, and children. It offers a range of brand-name and private-label merchandise through various channels, such as Nordstrom branded stores and online at Nordstrom.com; Nordstrom.ca; Nordstrom stores; Nordstrom Rack stores; Nordstrom Locals; ASOS; Nordstromrack.com; mobile application; and clearance stores under the Last Chance name.