Raymond James & Associates Buys 7,663 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 4.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 164,216 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,663 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $5,206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 86.4% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,602,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,867,000 after purchasing an additional 742,859 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 24.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,976,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,738,000 after purchasing an additional 575,378 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 505,942 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 59.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,244,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,470,000 after purchasing an additional 462,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 15.4% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,089,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,210,000 after purchasing an additional 412,313 shares during the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Hormel Foods stock opened at $30.92 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.25. Hormel Foods Co. has a twelve month low of $28.51 and a twelve month high of $36.86. The company has a market capitalization of $16.96 billion, a PE ratio of 21.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.282 per share. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HRL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stephens began coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup raised shares of Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company 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 research report on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.57.

Insider Activity

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total value of $312,718.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $976,094.99. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total value of $312,718.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $976,094.99. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total transaction of $1,648,620.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 72,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,313,850.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.69% 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.