Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Shares Sold by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 2.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 75,547 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,867 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $2,395,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 818,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,944,000 after purchasing an additional 34,589 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 452,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,345,000 after purchasing an additional 52,457 shares during the period. Grandfield & Dodd LLC raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 924,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,302,000 after purchasing an additional 26,390 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,846,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,548,000 after purchasing an additional 66,261 shares during the period. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,025,000. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In other news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 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 trade represents a 41.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $976,094.99. This represents a 24.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 71,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,288,338 in the last three months. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hormel Foods Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of HRL stock opened at $32.00 on Thursday. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1 year low of $28.51 and a 1 year high of $36.86. The stock has a market cap of $17.54 billion, a PE ratio of 22.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.26. The business’s fifty day moving average is $31.05 and its 200-day moving average is $31.53. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. This is a positive change from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.58%.

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.