D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Trims Position in Nomad Foods Limited (NYSE:NOMD)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. reduced its holdings in Nomad Foods Limited (NYSE:NOMD) by 14.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 318,509 shares of the company’s stock after selling 53,331 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Nomad Foods were worth $5,345,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NOMD. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Nomad Foods by 70.6% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 1,448 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Nomad Foods during the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Nomad Foods by 21.7% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,757 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nomad Foods during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Nomad Foods in the 4th quarter valued at $83,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on NOMD shares. Barclays raised their target price on Nomad Foods from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Nomad Foods from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Nomad Foods from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th.

Nomad Foods Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NOMD opened at $18.14 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $19.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.17. Nomad Foods Limited has a 12-month low of $15.43 and a 12-month high of $20.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.64 and a beta of 0.81.

Nomad Foods (NYSE:NOMD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.04). Nomad Foods had a return on equity of 10.38% and a net margin of 6.54%. The firm had revenue of $822.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.39 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Nomad Foods Limited will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Nomad Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. Nomad Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.33%.

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.