PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 154,437 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 11,026 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $4,959,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,014,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,734,000 after acquiring an additional 165,563 shares in the last quarter. Mairs & Power Inc. increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Mairs & Power Inc. now owns 5,459,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $175,290,000 after acquiring an additional 108,944 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,059,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,366,000 after acquiring an additional 172,110 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 97.8% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,900,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,151,000 after acquiring an additional 1,434,437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,654,609 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,239,000 after acquiring an additional 144,605 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 15,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $539,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 68,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,381,015. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Hormel Foods news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.95, for a total value of $349,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,352,844.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 15,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $539,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 68,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,381,015. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of HRL stock opened at $30.37 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $33.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $16.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.69, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.25. Hormel Foods Co. has a twelve month low of $28.51 and a twelve month high of $41.73.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.37% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The company’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.2825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.72%. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is 80.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on HRL shares. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Friday, May 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Hormel Foods from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $29.00 in a report on Friday, May 31st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hormel Foods presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.67.

Hormel Foods Company Profile

Hormel Foods Corporation develops, processes, and distributes various meat, nuts, and other food products to retail, foodservice, deli, and commercial customers in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Retail, Foodservice, and International segments. The company provides various perishable products that include fresh meats, frozen items, refrigerated meal solutions, sausages, hams, guacamoles, and bacons; and shelf-stable products comprising canned luncheon meats, nut butters, snack nuts, chili, shelf-stable microwaveable meals, hash, stews, tortillas, salsas, tortilla chips, nutritional food supplements, and others.