Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Shares Sold by New Century Financial Group LLC

New Century Financial Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,171 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,540 shares during the quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 97.8% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,900,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,151,000 after acquiring an additional 1,434,437 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 86.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,602,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,867,000 after acquiring an additional 742,859 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Hormel Foods by 24.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,976,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,738,000 after acquiring an additional 575,378 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 9.9% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,638,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,729,000 after purchasing an additional 505,942 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 59.1% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,244,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,470,000 after buying an additional 462,283 shares during the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

NYSE HRL opened at $31.54 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 2.29. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $32.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.25. Hormel Foods Co. has a fifty-two week low of $28.51 and a fifty-two week high of $38.27.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. Hormel Foods’s revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.40 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a $0.282 dividend. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.71%.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total transaction of $312,718.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at $976,094.99. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Hormel Foods news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 30,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $976,094.99. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total value of $1,648,620.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 72,421 shares in the company, valued at $2,313,850.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Citigroup raised Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.33.

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.