Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Shares Bought by Raymond James Trust N.A.

Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 20.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,788 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,236 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $596,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HRL. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Hormel Foods by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 1.2% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 31,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $959,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.7% during the third quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 13,202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 472 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 1.2% during the second quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 41,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,273,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Accredited Investors Inc. grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 13,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $425,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total value of $327,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 39,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,276,935. This trade represents a 20.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at $976,094.99. This trade represents a 24.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 2.5 %

NYSE HRL opened at $31.44 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.14, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.26. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $31.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.69.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This is a boost from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.69%. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is presently 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.