Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Receives $31.67 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” by the six brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $31.67.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on HRL shares. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Friday, May 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 31st.

Hormel Foods Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE HRL opened at $30.22 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $33.54 and a 200-day moving average of $32.70. The company has a market cap of $16.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.25. Hormel Foods has a 12 month low of $28.51 and a 12 month high of $41.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Hormel Foods will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is currently 80.71%.

Institutional Trading of Hormel Foods

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HRL. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 11.6% in the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 21,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $820,000 after purchasing an additional 2,237 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Hormel Foods in the third quarter worth $357,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 19.1% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 612,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,292,000 after purchasing an additional 98,289 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 5.2% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 145,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,518,000 after purchasing an additional 7,144 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 6.0% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,059,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,366,000 after purchasing an additional 172,110 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

About Hormel Foods

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.