Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 141,667 Shares of Nomad Foods Limited $NOMD

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Nomad Foods by 30%, acquiring an additional 141,667 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 0.40% worth $12 million.
• Nomad Foods reported a quarterly EPS of $0.45, exceeding estimates, with revenues of $879.27 million, despite a 0.8% decline in year-over-year revenue.
• The firm announced a quarterly dividend of $0.17, set to be paid on August 26th, representing an annual yield of 4.5% with a payout ratio of 46.58%.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Nomad Foods Limited (NYSE:NOMD - Free Report) by 30.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 613,669 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 141,667 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.40% of Nomad Foods worth $12,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NOMD. Vident Advisory LLC bought a new position in Nomad Foods in the fourth quarter valued at $9,003,000. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its position in Nomad Foods by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 8,376,162 shares of the company's stock valued at $140,552,000 after purchasing an additional 410,455 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Nomad Foods by 17.3% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,724,866 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,544,000 after purchasing an additional 402,599 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new position in Nomad Foods in the first quarter valued at $7,383,000. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in Nomad Foods by 41.9% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,265,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,227,000 after purchasing an additional 373,800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.26% of the company's stock.

Nomad Foods Price Performance

Shares of Nomad Foods stock traded up $0.1990 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $15.6690. 122,786 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 827,627. The stock has a market cap of $2.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.73 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $16.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.12. Nomad Foods Limited has a 12 month low of $14.72 and a 12 month high of $20.81.

Nomad Foods (NYSE:NOMD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.01. Nomad Foods had a net margin of 6.93% and a return on equity of 10.26%. The company had revenue of $879.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $762.81 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.44 EPS. The firm's revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nomad Foods Limited will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Nomad Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. Nomad Foods's payout ratio is presently 46.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Nomad Foods from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Nomad Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Nomad Foods from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $20.33.

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.