Davis Capital Management Buys 1,238 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Davis Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 7.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,834 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares during the quarter. Davis Capital Management’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $573,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 154,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,959,000 after purchasing an additional 11,026 shares in the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,021,000. Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,181,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 31,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,026,000 after buying an additional 1,443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,694,000. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HRL traded up $0.41 during trading on Friday, hitting $32.87. The stock had a trading volume of 1,633,779 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,162,669. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.55. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $18.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.24. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12-month low of $28.51 and a 12-month high of $41.73.

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

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.2825 per share. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HRL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price target on Hormel Foods from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Hormel Foods from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Friday, May 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.67.

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.