Nomad Foods (NYSE:NOMD) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Nomad Foods (NYSE:NOMD) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on NOMD. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Nomad Foods in a report on Friday, October 31st. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Nomad Foods in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.00.

Nomad Foods Stock Performance

NOMD opened at $11.98 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $12.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.32 and a beta of 0.71. Nomad Foods has a 12-month low of $11.04 and a 12-month high of $20.81.

Nomad Foods (NYSE:NOMD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.01). Nomad Foods had a net margin of 6.56% and a return on equity of 9.73%. The business had revenue of $881.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $760.75 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Nomad Foods will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Nomad Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. Nomad Foods’s payout ratio is 47.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOMD. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Nomad Foods by 87.4% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Nomad Foods during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD acquired a new stake in Nomad Foods in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Arizona PSPRS Trust bought a new stake in Nomad Foods in the third quarter valued at $121,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Nomad Foods in the third quarter valued at $144,000. Institutional investors own 75.26% of the company’s stock.

Nomad Foods Company Profile

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.