Short Interest in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Increases By 7.7%

Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,110,000 shares, an increase of 7.7% from the May 31st total of 8,460,000 shares. Currently, 3.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,540,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.6 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on HRL shares. Citigroup decreased their price target 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. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $28.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Friday, May 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hormel Foods

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 9.9% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,638,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,729,000 after purchasing an additional 505,942 shares during the period. Mairs & Power Inc. increased its position in Hormel Foods by 2.0% during the fourth 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 during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Hormel Foods by 97.8% during the fourth 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 during the period. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in Hormel Foods by 5.8% during the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Hormel Foods by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,583,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,963,000 after acquiring an additional 196,460 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

NYSE HRL opened at $30.24 on Thursday. Hormel Foods has a 12-month low of $28.51 and a 12-month high of $41.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.58 billion, a PE ratio of 21.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $33.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.65.

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

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

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 $0.2825 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio is 80.71%.

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.