Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $31.29.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Stephens started coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total value of $327,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Steven J. Lykken acquired 4,904 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $230,537. This trade represents a 223.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hormel Foods

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRL. State Street Corp grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,068,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,659,000 after acquiring an additional 617,308 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,362,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,646,000 after buying an additional 120,212 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 3,267,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,570,000 after buying an additional 162,577 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its position 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. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 24.0% in the 2nd 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. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hormel Foods Stock Down 0.3 %

HRL opened at $32.94 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a fifty day moving average of $31.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 2.32. Hormel Foods has a fifty-two week low of $28.51 and a fifty-two week high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The business had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Hormel Foods will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors 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 represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. This is a boost from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.45%.

Hormel Foods Company 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.