Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Receives Average Rating of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research 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. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $31.29.

HRL has been the topic of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Stephens began coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th.

Hormel Foods Stock Up 0.3 %

Hormel Foods stock opened at $31.68 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $17.39 billion, a PE ratio of 21.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 2.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $31.35 and a 200 day moving average of $31.42. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 6.75%. The business had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. Hormel Foods’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hormel Foods will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, January 13th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. This is a boost from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is currently 79.45%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 24.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hormel Foods

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

Hormel Foods Company 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.