Alpha Family Trust Invests $316,000 in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Alpha Family Trust bought a new stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 9,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $316,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Hormel Foods by 688.3% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 516.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hormel Foods news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the company’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 owns 39,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,276,935. The trade was a 20.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total value of $312,718.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at $976,094.99. This trade represents 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 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HRL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Stephens initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup raised Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Two research 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.57.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HRL opened at $29.21 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12 month low of $28.51 and a 12 month high of $36.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $31.23 and a 200-day moving average of $31.92. The company has a market capitalization of $16.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.26.

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

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a $0.282 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.86%. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is presently 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.