Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Barclays

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) was upgraded by research analysts at Barclays from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on HRL. 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 objective for the company. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.17.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:HRL opened at $30.90 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $31.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.46. Hormel Foods has a 1 year low of $28.51 and a 1 year high of $36.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.14 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Hormel Foods will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken purchased 4,904 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,100 shares in the company, valued at $230,537. The trade was a 223.32 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hormel Foods

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the period. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Hormel Foods by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $422,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Hormel Foods by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 6,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC raised its position in Hormel Foods by 4.8% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 9,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 11,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.