Citigroup Cuts Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) Price Target to $35.00

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) had its target price reduced by Citigroup from $36.00 to $35.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 target price for the company. Stephens started coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.29.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of Hormel Foods stock opened at $30.52 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.49, a PEG ratio of 3.15 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. Hormel Foods has a one year low of $28.51 and a one year high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued 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 return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 6.52%. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were paid a $0.282 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,313,850.95. This trade represents a 41.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total value of $327,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 39,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,276,935. This trade represents a 20.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 71,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,288,338 in the last 90 days. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hormel Foods

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRL. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its position in Hormel Foods by 56.0% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,237,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,934,000 after purchasing an additional 802,816 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 86.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,602,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,867,000 after purchasing an additional 742,859 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Hormel Foods by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,068,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $794,659,000 after purchasing an additional 617,308 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,976,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,738,000 after buying an additional 575,378 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 59.1% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,244,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,470,000 after buying an additional 462,283 shares during the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.