Nomad Foods Limited (NYSE:NOMD) Short Interest Update

Nomad Foods Limited (NYSE:NOMD) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,440,000 shares, a decline of 31.1% from the February 28th total of 2,090,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 655,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nomad Foods

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Nomad Foods by 61.5% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Nomad Foods by 70.6% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 1,448 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nomad Foods in the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Nomad Foods by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,757 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Nomad Foods during the fourth quarter valued at $76,000. 75.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOMD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on Nomad Foods from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Nomad Foods from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th.

Nomad Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NOMD traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $19.65. The company had a trading volume of 506,979 shares, compared to its average volume of 621,198. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Nomad Foods has a 1 year low of $15.43 and a 1 year high of $20.81. The company has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.77 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $18.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.95.

Nomad Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Nomad Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Nomad Foods’s payout ratio is presently 45.03%.

About Nomad Foods

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.