Nomad Foods Limited (NYSE:NOMD) Short Interest Down 17.9% in April

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nomad Foods

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NOMD. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position 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 valued at $2,829,000 after acquiring an additional 12,131 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Nomad Foods by 81.3% in the 1st 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 during the period. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in Nomad Foods by 50.2% in the 1st 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 during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new position in Nomad Foods in the 2nd quarter worth $221,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Nomad Foods by 427.3% in the 2nd 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. Institutional investors own 75.26% of the company’s stock.

Nomad Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NOMD stock traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $9.71. 888,765 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 949,219. Nomad Foods has a 12 month low of $9.43 and a 12 month high of $20.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $10.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $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 $1.38 billion, a PE ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 0.74.

Nomad Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.0%. Nomad Foods’s payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on NOMD shares. BTIG Research dropped their price target on Nomad Foods from $18.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Nomad Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $10.00 target price (down from $15.00) on shares of Nomad Foods in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Nomad Foods from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Nomad Foods from $15.00 to $13.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.50.

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.