Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN)

Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE:JWN) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock traders acquired 22,121 put options on the company. This is an increase of 1,036% compared to the average daily volume of 1,948 put options.

Institutional Trading of Nordstrom

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nexpoint Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Nordstrom by 809.8% during the first quarter. Nexpoint Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,508,133 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $85,774,000 after acquiring an additional 3,122,553 shares during the period. Pentwater Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Nordstrom during the 4th quarter worth about $61,582,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Nordstrom by 1,433.1% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,669,059 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $40,808,000 after purchasing an additional 1,560,192 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Nordstrom during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,480,000. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Nordstrom in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,414,000. 88.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nordstrom Trading Up 0.1%

JWN traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $24.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,173,541 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,286,449. Nordstrom has a 52-week low of $19.45 and a 52-week high of $24.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $24.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65. The firm has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.67 and a beta of 2.36.

Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The specialty retailer reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.20. Nordstrom had a negative net margin of 1.57% and a negative return on equity of 18.04%. The firm had revenue of $4.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.32 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Nordstrom will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on JWN shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Nordstrom in a research note on Sunday. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of Nordstrom in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $22.00 price target (down from $25.00) on shares of Nordstrom in a report on Friday, April 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.80.

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.