Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE:JWN) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE:JWN) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,290,000 shares, a decrease of 13.6% from the August 31st total of 13,060,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,360,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.8 days. Currently, 10.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Alexis Depree sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.20, for a total value of $464,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 169,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,928,479.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 5.78% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in JWN. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Nordstrom during the fourth quarter worth $23,572,000. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in Nordstrom by 44.9% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,648,637 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $48,867,000 after purchasing an additional 820,390 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Nordstrom by 66.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,661,227 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $35,251,000 after purchasing an additional 661,769 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nordstrom by 5.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,653,007 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $215,936,000 after purchasing an additional 579,001 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Nordstrom by 38.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,479,414 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $31,393,000 after purchasing an additional 410,152 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.73% of the company’s stock.

Nordstrom Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of JWN stock opened at $22.20 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 12.13 and a beta of 2.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76. Nordstrom has a 12-month low of $12.88 and a 12-month high of $24.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $22.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.08.

Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $3.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.88 billion. Nordstrom had a negative return on equity of 21.26% and a negative net margin of 1.44%. The company’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Nordstrom will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Nordstrom Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Nordstrom’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JWN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Nordstrom from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Nordstrom from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Barclays raised Nordstrom from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $23.00 in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Nordstrom from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Nordstrom from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.23.

About Nordstrom

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.