Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Shares Purchased by Davis Capital Management

Davis Capital Management raised its holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 6.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 20,000 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,166 shares during the period. Davis Capital Management’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $634,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 688.3% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 741 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Hormel Foods in the first quarter worth about $31,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Hormel Foods in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods during the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Hormel Foods during the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,000. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Citigroup upgraded Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $33.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.33.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

HRL opened at $31.54 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $32.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.78. Hormel Foods Co. has a fifty-two week low of $28.51 and a fifty-two week high of $38.27. The firm has a market cap of $17.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.25.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 6.52%. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.282 per share. 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 80.71%.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In related 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 value of $312,718.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $976,094.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 72,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,313,850.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total value of $312,718.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at $976,094.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.