M&T Bank Corp Cuts Stock Holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

M&T Bank Corp reduced its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 11.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,884 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,368 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 15.4% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,209,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,356,000 after purchasing an additional 161,431 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 4.8% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 9,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Bontempo Ohly Capital Mgmt LLC lifted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 0.6% during the third quarter. Bontempo Ohly Capital Mgmt LLC now owns 126,118 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,998,000 after acquiring an additional 719 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 19.2% in the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 102,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,247,000 after purchasing an additional 16,481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 69.5% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 151,583 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,805,000 after purchasing an additional 62,139 shares during the period. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens began coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target 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. Two equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken purchased 4,904 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 7,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $230,537. This trade represents a 223.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hormel Foods Stock Down 0.8 %

HRL opened at $31.90 on Thursday. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12 month low of $28.51 and a 12 month high of $36.86. The company has a market cap of $17.51 billion, a PE ratio of 21.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a 50 day moving average of $31.32 and a 200 day moving average of $31.41.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 6.75%. Hormel Foods’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. This is an increase from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 13th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.45%.

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.