We recently published a list of Why These 15 Defensive Stocks Are Surging In 2025. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Nomad Foods Ltd (NYSE:NOMD) stands against other defensive stocks that are surging in 2025.
Defensive stocks are surging as investors have been shifting their focus. Growth stocks dominated the past two years. Now, slower economic signals and rising risks are changing the landscape due to market uncertainty.
Defensive stocks offer much more stability and tend to perform well even in tough times. People still need electricity, medicine, and food. That reliability draws investors when uncertainty grows.
Many are rotating into these stocks for safety. The surge suggests a broader trend. It could mark a turning point after years of growth-led rallies., so it’s worth looking into the defensive stocks that stand out right now.
Methodology
For this article, I screened the best-performing defensive stocks year-to-date.
I will also mention the number of hedge fund investors in these stocks. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
A close-up of fresh frozen vegetables and fish products ready for packaging.
Nomad Foods Ltd (NYSE:NOMD)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q4 2024: 27
Nomad Foods Ltd (NYSE:NOMD) is a European food company that sells frozen products.
The stock is up significantly so far in 2025 as Nomad Foods raised its full-year Adjusted EPS guidance to €1.85-€1.89 from the prior range of €1.81-€1.85 and exceeded consensus estimates.
The company reported strong financial results for 2024 of a 4.3% increase in Q4 revenue to €793 million and a gross profit increase of 9%. It also raised its FY 2025 Adjusted EPS guidance and announced a 13% increase in its first-quarter dividend.
Earlier this year, Nomad Foods provided detailed guidance for 2025. It sees organic revenue growth of 1%-3%, adjusted EBITDA growth of 2%-4%, and adjusted free cash flow conversion of over 90%.
The consensus price target of $24 implies 22.11% upside.
NOMD stock is up 18.29% year-to-date.
Overall, NOMD ranks 9th on our list of defensive stocks that are surging in 2025. While we acknowledge the potential of NOMD as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than NOMD but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
