Nomad Foods (NYSE:NOMD) Hits New 52-Week Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Nomad Foods Limited (NYSE:NOMD)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday after Zacks Research downgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong sell rating. The stock traded as low as $10.50 and last traded at $10.5250, with a volume of 2360235 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $10.69.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on NOMD. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Nomad Foods from $15.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings lowered Nomad Foods from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday. BTIG Research lowered their price objective on Nomad Foods from $18.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Nomad Foods from $15.00 to $13.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.67.

Institutional Trading of Nomad Foods

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Nomad Foods by 40.3% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 14,323,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,276,000 after buying an additional 4,114,150 shares in the last quarter. Ruffer LLP purchased a new stake in Nomad Foods during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,823,000. Polaris Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Nomad Foods by 138.8% during the third quarter. Polaris Capital Management LLC now owns 3,441,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,261,000 after buying an additional 2,000,400 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Nomad Foods in the second quarter worth about $15,603,000. Finally, Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Nomad Foods in the fourth quarter worth about $11,147,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.26% of the company’s stock.

Nomad Foods Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.17 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $12.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Nomad Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th were issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.6%. Nomad Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.67%.

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.