Nomad Foods Limited (NYSE:NOMD) Short Interest Update

Nomad Foods Limited (NYSE:NOMD) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 1,714,552 shares, a decrease of 17.9% from the March 31st total of 2,088,769 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,042,495 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NOMD has been the topic of a number of research reports. BTIG Research dropped their target price on Nomad Foods from $18.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Nomad Foods from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Barclays dropped their price objective on Nomad Foods from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $10.00 price objective (down from $15.00) on shares of Nomad Foods in a report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Nomad Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.50.

Nomad Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NOMD traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $9.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,442,055 shares, compared to its average volume of 956,763. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $10.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a PE ratio of 9.33 and a beta of 0.69. Nomad Foods has a one year low of $9.39 and a one year high of $20.29.

Nomad Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. Nomad Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

Institutional Trading of Nomad Foods

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in Nomad Foods by 0.4% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 7,330,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,546,000 after acquiring an additional 27,177 shares during the last quarter. Polaris Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Nomad Foods by 138.8% during the third quarter. Polaris Capital Management LLC now owns 3,441,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,261,000 after buying an additional 2,000,400 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of Nomad Foods by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 2,484,858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,086,000 after purchasing an additional 33,052 shares in the last quarter. Ruffer LLP bought a new position in shares of Nomad Foods during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,823,000. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its holdings in shares of Nomad Foods by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,856,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,228,000 after purchasing an additional 48,060 shares in the last quarter. 75.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nomad Foods Company Profile

Nomad Foods Limited is a leading frozen foods company headquartered in the United Kingdom, operating under the ticker symbol NOMD on the New York Stock Exchange. The company’s portfolio comprises well-known consumer brands such as Birds Eye, iglo, Findus, Goodfella’s and Aunt Bessie’s, covering a wide range of categories including vegetables, seafood, ready meals, pizzas and desserts. Nomad Foods focuses on delivering convenient, high-quality frozen products designed to meet evolving consumer preferences for taste, nutrition and ease of preparation.

Formed in 2015 through the acquisition of Iglo Group by investment firms Permira and Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Nomad Foods was created with the strategy of building Europe’s largest frozen foods platform.