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

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on NOMD shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Nomad Foods from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Zacks Research cut shares of Nomad Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Barclays cut 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. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Nomad Foods from $15.00 to $13.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, BTIG Research dropped their price target on shares of Nomad Foods from $18.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Nomad Foods presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.67.

Nomad Foods Stock Up 0.2%

NOMD opened at $9.76 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.66. Nomad Foods has a 12 month low of $9.46 and a 12 month high of $20.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.56 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.06.

Nomad Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th were issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.0%. Nomad Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nomad Foods

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NOMD. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Nomad Foods by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 143,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,829,000 after purchasing an additional 12,131 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Nomad Foods by 81.3% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 656,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,904,000 after buying an additional 294,386 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in Nomad Foods by 50.2% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 75,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,490,000 after buying an additional 25,358 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new position in Nomad Foods during the second quarter worth about $221,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Nomad Foods by 427.3% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 105,871 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,799,000 after buying an additional 85,793 shares during the period. 75.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.