Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Stock Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 50,526 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,651 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $1,578,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 516.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 1,132 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. BNP Paribas assumed 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 for the company. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target for the company. Two investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hormel Foods presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.29.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken purchased 4,904 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the acquisition, the vice president now 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of HRL stock opened at $31.85 on Friday. Hormel Foods Co. has a one year low of $28.51 and a one year high of $36.86. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $31.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.26. 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 (NYSE:HRL) last released 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 return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 6.75%. The business had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. Hormel Foods’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be given a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. This is a positive change from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. 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.