Swiss National Bank Raises Stock Position in Hormel Foods Corporation $HRL

Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) by 7.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 887,900 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 63,600 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.16% of Hormel Foods worth $20,111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the first quarter worth about $310,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 57,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,779,000 after purchasing an additional 993 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 40.8% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 24,583 shares of the company’s stock worth $761,000 after purchasing an additional 7,129 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 214.4% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,731 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 3,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 76.5% in the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 103,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,134,000 after purchasing an additional 44,906 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on HRL shares. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $23.00 price target (down from $28.00) on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gary C. Bhojwani sold 20,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total transaction of $495,102.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 32,002 shares in the company, valued at approximately $784,369.02. This represents a 38.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

HRL stock opened at $25.30 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $13.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.77, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.34. Hormel Foods Corporation has a 1 year low of $19.70 and a 1 year high of $29.34. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $24.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.33.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 3.82%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, July 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.2925 per share. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 13th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.