Nomad Foods (NYSE:NOMD) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Nomad Foods (NYSE:NOMD) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Nomad Foods from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Nomad Foods from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 19th.

Nomad Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NOMD traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $17.63. The stock had a trading volume of 201,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 579,152. The company has a market capitalization of $2.87 billion, a PE ratio of 12.97 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $18.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Nomad Foods has a 1 year low of $14.54 and a 1 year high of $20.05.

Nomad Foods (NYSE:NOMD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Nomad Foods had a net margin of 6.79% and a return on equity of 9.78%. The firm had revenue of $810.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $822.21 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Nomad Foods will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nomad Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Nomad Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Institutional Trading of Nomad Foods

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NOMD. Boston Partners grew its holdings in Nomad Foods by 18.8% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,563,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,356,159 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nomad Foods by 8.3% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,179,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,881,000 after buying an additional 320,900 shares during the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC increased its position in Nomad Foods by 2.9% in the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 4,019,663 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,615,000 after purchasing an additional 114,750 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Nomad Foods by 0.9% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,069,181 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,439,000 after purchasing an additional 18,189 shares during the period. Finally, Townsend & Associates Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Nomad Foods by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 1,539,731 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,976,000 after purchasing an additional 53,694 shares in the last quarter. 75.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nomad Foods Company Profile

Nomad Foods Limited, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and distributes a range of frozen food products in the United Kingdom and internationally. The company offers frozen fish products, including fish fingers, coated fish, and natural fish; ready-to-cook vegetable products, such as peas and spinach; and frozen poultry and meat products comprising nuggets, grills, and burgers.