Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Stock Position Decreased by Fmr LLC

Fmr LLC cut its stake in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 25.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,929 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,228 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $2,185,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. West Tower Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the third quarter valued at $276,000. Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the third quarter valued at $1,025,000. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.7% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 968,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,714,000 after purchasing an additional 25,102 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 39.6% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 40,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,298,000 after purchasing an additional 11,615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the third quarter valued at $335,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HRL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In other news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total value of $327,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,276,935. This trade represents a 20.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Steven J. Lykken purchased 4,904 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $32.47 per share, for a total transaction of $159,232.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $230,537. The trade was a 223.32 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HRL opened at $32.94 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1 year low of $28.51 and a 1 year high of $36.86. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.41. The firm has a market cap of $18.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.26.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The company had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. Hormel Foods’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This is a positive change from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.45%.

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.