ProShare Advisors LLC Increases Position in Hormel Foods Corporation $HRL

ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) by 14.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,618,755 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 849,357 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $156,864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GoalVest Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 514.6% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,512 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 1,266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods during the third quarter valued at $64,000. 40.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

NYSE:HRL opened at $20.39 on Tuesday. Hormel Foods Corporation has a one year low of $19.70 and a one year high of $31.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 2.66. The firm has a market cap of $11.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.91, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.33. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $21.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.98.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 4.03% and a return on equity of 9.38%. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Hormel Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.430-1.510 EPS. Research analysts expect that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.42 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 13th will be issued a $0.2925 dividend. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 13th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 131.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on HRL shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $23.00 price objective (down from $28.00) on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Stephens upped their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.00.

Hormel Foods Profile

Hormel Foods Corporation is a global branded foods company primarily engaged in the production, marketing and distribution of value-added, high-quality meat and food products. The company’s portfolio spans a range of categories including refrigerated and frozen meats, pantry staples, specialty foods and shelf-stable items. Through manufacturing facilities located across North America and international markets, Hormel Foods supplies retail grocers, foodservice operators, convenience stores and e-commerce platforms.

Among its best-known brands, Hormel Foods produces SPAM® canned meats, Jennie-O® turkey products, Skippy® peanut butter and Applegate® natural and organic meats.