Caprock Group LLC Sells 440 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Caprock Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 3.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,728 shares of the company’s stock after selling 440 shares during the quarter. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $340,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 25.3% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 31,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,111,000 after purchasing an additional 6,422 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 44.1% during the first quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 164,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,744,000 after acquiring an additional 50,421 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 62.9% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 582,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,322,000 after acquiring an additional 224,978 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Hormel Foods in the first quarter valued at approximately $535,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in Hormel Foods by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 11,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $388,000 after purchasing an additional 629 shares during the period. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

HRL stock opened at $30.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company’s 50-day moving average is $31.05 and its 200-day moving average is $31.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.82 billion, a PE ratio of 21.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.26. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1 year low of $28.51 and a 1 year high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 6.52%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a dividend of $0.282 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is 79.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Stephens initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Hormel Foods currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In other news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total value of $1,648,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,313,850.95. This represents a 41.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $976,094.99. The trade was a 24.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 71,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,288,338. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.