Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Stock Position Increased by Malaga Cove Capital LLC

Malaga Cove Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,565 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,425 shares during the quarter. Malaga Cove Capital LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $885,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,014,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,734,000 after buying an additional 165,563 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Hormel Foods by 6.0% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,059,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,366,000 after buying an additional 172,110 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 7.2% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,510,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,455,000 after purchasing an additional 167,920 shares during the period. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,959,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,504,000 after buying an additional 428,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,775,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,020,000 after buying an additional 81,970 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 15,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.18, for a total value of $526,372.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 68,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,325,231.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.95, for a total transaction of $349,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 38,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,352,844.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 15,400 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.18, for a total transaction of $526,372.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 68,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,325,231.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 40,800 shares of company stock valued at $1,414,872 over the last three months. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Hormel Foods stock traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $35.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,627,936 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,264,320. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $34.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.46. The stock has a market cap of $19.26 billion, a PE ratio of 24.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.28. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52 week low of $28.51 and a 52 week high of $41.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.55% and a return on equity of 11.51%. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. Hormel Foods’s quarterly revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $0.2825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HRL. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Hormel Foods from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Citigroup started coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Hormel Foods from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Hormel Foods from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.00.

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.