Hormel Foods Corporation $HRL Stock: Vest Financial LLC Cuts Holdings

Vest Financial LLC cut its position in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,943,788 shares of the company’s stock after selling 341,315 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $38,759,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raiffeisen Bank International AG raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 90.7% during the 2nd quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 986 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 469 shares during the period. Fiduciary Financial Advisors acquired a new position in Hormel Foods in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 57.5% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 531 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 149.2% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,495 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 895 shares during the period. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the second quarter worth about $37,000. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $28.00 price target (down from $30.00) on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Bank of America increased their target price on Hormel Foods from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Stephens set a $23.00 target price on Hormel Foods in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane restated a “neutral” rating and set a $23.00 target price (down from $26.00) on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hormel Foods presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.43.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

NYSE HRL opened at $20.43 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $21.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.51. Hormel Foods Corporation has a 1 year low of $18.96 and a 1 year high of $26.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.30.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 9.91% and a net margin of 2.82%. The business’s revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.48 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 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 5.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 13th. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is 185.71%.

Insider Activity at Hormel Foods

In related news, Chairman William A. Newlands acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $20.10 per share, with a total value of $201,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 76,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,535,137.50. This trade represents a 15.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hormel Foods Company Profile

Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL) is a global food company headquartered in Austin, Minnesota. Founded in 1891 by George A. Hormel, the company began as a meat-processing business and has expanded into a broad portfolio of branded food products sold through retail, foodservice and international channels.

Its products include refrigerated and shelf-stable meats, meals, snacks and other prepared foods. Hormel Foods markets products under well-known brands such as Hormel, SPAM, Jennie-O, Applegate, Columbus, Skippy and Planters, although its brand portfolio and business operations may evolve over time.