Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Stock Position Trimmed by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 0.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 45,379 shares of the company’s stock after selling 351 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $1,439,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 688.3% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Hormel Foods during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC bought a new position in Hormel Foods during the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 516.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares during the period. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the second quarter valued at $42,000. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hormel Foods Trading Down 3.9 %

NYSE HRL opened at $29.21 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $31.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.89. The stock has a market cap of $16.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.57, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.26. Hormel Foods Co. has a twelve month low of $28.51 and a twelve month high of $36.86. 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 (NYSE:HRL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 6.52%. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were paid a $0.282 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on HRL shares. Citigroup upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Stephens started coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now owns 30,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $976,094.99. The trade was a 24.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total transaction of $327,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,276,935. The trade was a 20.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338 in the last quarter. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.