Nomad Foods (NYSE:NOMD) Shares Gap Up to $17.85

Nomad Foods Limited (NYSE:NOMD - Get Free Report) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $17.85, but opened at $19.14. Nomad Foods shares last traded at $18.60, with a volume of 53,073 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Nomad Foods from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd.

Nomad Foods Stock Up 6.0 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $18.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.50. The company has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.45 and a beta of 0.77.

Nomad Foods (NYSE:NOMD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.01. Nomad Foods had a return on equity of 10.41% and a net margin of 6.34%. The firm had revenue of $761.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $766.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.34 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Nomad Foods Limited will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Nomad Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 9th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. Nomad Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nomad Foods

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Nomad Foods by 30.6% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,206,884 shares of the company's stock valued at $122,251,000 after purchasing an additional 1,688,624 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Nomad Foods in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,286,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Nomad Foods by 157.6% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,183,801 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,065,000 after buying an additional 724,232 shares during the last quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc lifted its position in shares of Nomad Foods by 102.1% in the fourth quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 1,402,280 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,273,000 after buying an additional 708,489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Polaris Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nomad Foods by 24.5% during the 4th quarter. Polaris Capital Management LLC now owns 3,397,400 shares of the company's stock worth $57,586,000 after acquiring an additional 668,100 shares during the period. 75.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.