Hormel Foods Co. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.28 (NYSE:HRL)

Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, September 23rd, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of 0.282 per share on Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th.

Hormel Foods has raised its dividend by an average of 5.8% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 59 years. Hormel Foods has a payout ratio of 66.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Hormel Foods to earn $1.68 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.13 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 67.3%.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HRL traded up $0.07 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $31.24. The company had a trading volume of 68,358 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,672,913. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Hormel Foods has a twelve month low of $28.51 and a twelve month high of $39.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $32.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.13 billion, a PE ratio of 22.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.25.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hormel Foods will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on HRL shares. Citigroup raised Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Hormel Foods from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $28.00 to $29.00 in a report on Friday, May 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In related news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total value of $327,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 39,050 shares in the company, valued at $1,276,935. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total transaction of $327,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,276,935. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total value of $1,648,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,421 shares in the company, valued at $2,313,850.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.