Tobam Sells 71,909 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Tobam lessened its holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 22.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 252,604 shares of the company’s stock after selling 71,909 shares during the quarter. Hormel Foods accounts for 1.5% of Tobam’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Tobam’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $8,008,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew 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 during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 86.4% during 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 during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 24.0% during the 2nd 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 grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,638,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,729,000 after acquiring an additional 505,942 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 59.1% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,244,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,470,000 after acquiring an additional 462,283 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Stephens assumed coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total transaction of $1,648,620.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,313,850.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total transaction of $1,648,620.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,421 shares in the company, valued at $2,313,850.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total value of $327,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 39,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,276,935. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HRL traded up $0.04 on Thursday, hitting $31.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 621,239 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,648,018. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.67. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1 year low of $28.51 and a 1 year high of $36.99. The company has a market capitalization of $17.01 billion, a PE ratio of 22.13, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 6.52%. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.282 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.71%.

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.