Champlain Investment Partners LLC Has $176.56 Million Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Champlain Investment Partners LLC reduced its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,569,812 shares of the company’s stock after selling 739,785 shares during the quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC owned about 1.02% of Hormel Foods worth $176,563,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HRL. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 688.3% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 741 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Hormel Foods during the second quarter worth about $34,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Hormel Foods during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Hormel Foods

In other news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total transaction of $327,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 39,050 shares in the company, valued at $1,276,935. The trade was a 20.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total transaction of $312,718.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 have sold 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on HRL shares. Stephens assumed coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.29.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:HRL opened at $30.67 on Friday. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52 week low of $28.51 and a 52 week high of $36.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 2.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $31.05 and its 200-day moving average is $31.76. The firm has a market cap of $16.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.26.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were paid a $0.282 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.