Short Interest in Nomad Foods Limited (NYSE:NOMD) Decreases By 17.0%

Nomad Foods Limited (NYSE:NOMD) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 1,927,629 shares, a decrease of 17.0% from the February 26th total of 2,322,068 shares. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,153,356 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.9 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Nomad Foods from $15.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. BTIG Research dropped their target price on shares of Nomad Foods from $18.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Nomad Foods from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Nomad Foods from $15.00 to $13.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, 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 research note on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.75.

Nomad Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NOMD stock traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $9.61. The stock had a trading volume of 1,092,628 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,763,424. Nomad Foods has a fifty-two week low of $9.43 and a fifty-two week high of $20.29. The firm has a market cap of $1.37 billion, a PE ratio of 9.42 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.99.

Nomad Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 11th were given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.1%. Nomad Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.67%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nomad Foods

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOMD. Ruffer LLP purchased a new position in shares of Nomad Foods during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,823,000. Polaris Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nomad Foods by 138.8% in the third quarter. Polaris Capital Management LLC now owns 3,441,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,261,000 after buying an additional 2,000,400 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Nomad Foods during the second quarter worth $15,603,000. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd purchased a new position in Nomad Foods in the fourth quarter worth $11,147,000. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Nomad Foods in the fourth quarter worth $10,979,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.26% of the company’s stock.

About Nomad Foods

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.