Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,110,000 shares, a growth of 7.7% from the May 31st total of 8,460,000 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,540,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 688.3% during 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 in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Hormel Foods in the first quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in Hormel Foods by 774.8% during the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,077 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Hormel Foods during the fourth quarter worth $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on HRL shares. Citigroup cut their price target on Hormel Foods from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Hormel Foods from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $28.00 to $29.00 in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Friday, May 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold 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 $31.67.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of HRL traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $30.55. 1,783,099 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,888,149. Hormel Foods has a twelve month low of $28.51 and a twelve month high of $41.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $16.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.82, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.24. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.65.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.02. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 6.37%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hormel Foods will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.2825 per share. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.71%.

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.