Assetmark Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Assetmark Inc. cut its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 97.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,543 shares of the company’s stock after selling 54,817 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $49,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in HRL. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in Hormel Foods by 1.2% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 31,499 shares of the company’s stock worth $959,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the period. Keynote Financial Services LLC grew its position in Hormel Foods by 3.7% in the third quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 13,202 shares of the company’s stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in Hormel Foods by 1.2% in the second quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 41,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,273,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc. grew its position in Hormel Foods by 4.0% in the second quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 13,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $425,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in Hormel Foods by 1.4% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 38,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,185,000 after acquiring an additional 548 shares during the period. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hormel Foods Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE HRL opened at $29.40 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $16.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.70, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.26. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $28.51 and a 12-month high of $36.86. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.85.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 6.52%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a dividend of $0.282 per share. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total transaction of $312,718.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $976,094.99. The trade was a 24.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total value of $1,648,620.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 72,421 shares in the company, valued at $2,313,850.95. This trade represents a 41.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 71,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,288,338 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on HRL. BNP Paribas started coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup upgraded Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Stephens started coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.57.

Hormel Foods 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.