Nomad Foods (NYSE:NOMD) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Nomad Foods (NYSE:NOMD) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Thursday morning.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Nomad Foods from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Nomad Foods from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday.

Nomad Foods Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of Nomad Foods stock traded up $0.28 on Thursday, reaching $17.63. The company had a trading volume of 201,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 579,152. Nomad Foods has a 52-week low of $14.54 and a 52-week high of $20.05. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $18.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a PE ratio of 12.97 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.17.

Nomad Foods (NYSE:NOMD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $822.21 million. Sell-side 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Nomad Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NOMD. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Nomad Foods by 18.8% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,563,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,241,000 after buying an additional 1,356,159 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Nomad Foods by 628.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 889,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,398,000 after buying an additional 767,366 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Nomad Foods in the 1st quarter valued at $10,425,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Nomad Foods by 8.3% in the 2nd 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. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Nomad Foods by 123.2% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 548,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,043,000 after buying an additional 302,913 shares during 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.