Nomad Foods Limited (NYSE:NOMD) Short Interest Up 40.9% in May

Nomad Foods Limited (NYSE:NOMD - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,550,000 shares, a growth of 40.9% from the April 30th total of 1,100,000 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 870,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NOMD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Nomad Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Nomad Foods from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Nomad Foods from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Nomad Foods by 70.6% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 1,448 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Nomad Foods during the 4th quarter valued at $83,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nomad Foods in the 4th quarter valued at about $317,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Nomad Foods in the 4th quarter valued at about $222,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nomad Foods in the 4th quarter valued at about $124,000. 75.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nomad Foods Price Performance

Nomad Foods stock traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $16.98. 634,948 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 662,901. The company has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.76 and a beta of 0.81. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $18.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.21. Nomad Foods has a twelve month low of $15.43 and a twelve month high of $20.81.

Nomad Foods (NYSE:NOMD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $822.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.39 million. Nomad Foods had a net margin of 6.54% and a return on equity of 10.38%. Nomad Foods's revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.37 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Nomad Foods will post 1.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nomad Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Nomad Foods's payout ratio is presently 45.33%.

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.