Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Receives $31.57 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) have been assigned an average rating of “Reduce” from the seven analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $31.57.

HRL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens began coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Citigroup raised shares of Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, 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 on the stock.

Insider Activity at Hormel Foods

In other news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total transaction of $1,648,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,313,850.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total transaction of $312,718.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $976,094.99. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of Hormel Foods 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,313,850.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 71,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,288,338 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hormel Foods

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 688.3% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Hormel Foods in the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Hormel Foods in the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 774.8% during the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 1,077 shares during the period. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods during the 1st quarter valued at about $42,000. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of HRL opened at $30.92 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.77, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.26. Hormel Foods has a twelve month low of $28.51 and a twelve month high of $36.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.24.

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

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a $0.282 dividend. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.