Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Given Consensus Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the seven analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two 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. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $31.29.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HRL. Stephens started 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 for the company. BNP Paribas initiated 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, Citigroup lowered their price target on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hormel Foods news, 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 transaction of $312,718.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $976,094.99. This trade represents a 24.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total value of $1,648,620.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 72,421 shares in the company, valued at $2,313,850.95. The trade was a 41.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 71,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,288,338. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in Hormel Foods by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 8.8% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 155,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,920,000 after buying an additional 12,596 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Hormel Foods by 11.2% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 54,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,715,000 after acquiring an additional 5,459 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Hormel Foods by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,362,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,646,000 after acquiring an additional 120,212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 15.4% during the 3rd 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. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

NYSE:HRL opened at $30.22 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $16.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.26. 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 has a 1-year low of $28.51 and a 1-year high of $36.86. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $31.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.80.

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

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a $0.282 dividend. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.58%.

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.