OP Asset Management Ltd Acquires New Position in Hormel Foods Corporation $HRL

OP Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 31,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $723,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 139.4% in the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 6,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 3,743 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 1,155.2% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 219,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,974,000 after purchasing an additional 202,125 shares during the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 100.6% during the first quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 1,423,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,247,000 after purchasing an additional 714,080 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 167.1% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 538,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,187,000 after purchasing an additional 336,634 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evolve Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods in the first quarter valued at $1,597,000. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HRL. Stephens raised their price target on Hormel Foods from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective (down from $28.00) on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.00.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HRL opened at $24.81 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.94. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $22.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.20. The stock has a market cap of $13.65 billion, a PE ratio of 29.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.35. Hormel Foods Corporation has a one year low of $19.70 and a one year high of $31.86.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.05. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 3.82%.The company had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, July 13th will be given a dividend of $0.2925 per share. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 13th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 137.65%.

Hormel Foods Company 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.