Simmons Bank Has $272,000 Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Simmons Bank lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 28.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,573 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,901 shares during the quarter. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HRL. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 127,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,454,000 after buying an additional 17,199 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 18,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $637,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in Hormel Foods during the 1st quarter worth about $756,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 4.7% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 344,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,023,000 after purchasing an additional 15,522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 21.8% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 571,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,931,000 after buying an additional 102,141 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HRL has been the topic of several research reports. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Stephens initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target for the company. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.57.

Insider Activity at Hormel Foods

In other news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total value 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 represents a 41.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total value 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 approximately $976,094.99. The trade was a 24.26 % decrease in their position. 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 quarter. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HRL opened at $30.42 on Friday. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1 year low of $28.51 and a 1 year high of $36.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 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. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.99.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 6.52%. Hormel Foods’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.282 per share. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is 79.58%.

Hormel Foods 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.