Forsta AP Fonden Grows Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Forsta AP Fonden raised its position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 95.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 58,500 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,600 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $1,854,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of HRL. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 33.3% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 46,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after buying an additional 11,550 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Hormel Foods by 328.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 514,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,297,000 after acquiring an additional 394,068 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 3,481.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 40,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,820,000 after acquiring an additional 39,303 shares during the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $902,000. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 13,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $424,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315 shares during the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total value of $312,718.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at $976,094.99. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Hormel Foods news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total transaction of $312,718.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $976,094.99. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total transaction of $327,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,050 shares in the company, valued at $1,276,935. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on HRL. Stephens started coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target for the company. Citigroup upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.57.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Hormel Foods stock opened at $30.63 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 2.29. Hormel Foods Co. has a one year low of $28.51 and a one year high of $36.86. The company has a market cap of $16.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.25. The business has a fifty day moving average of $31.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.29.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a $0.282 dividend. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is currently 79.58%.

Hormel Foods 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.