Avanza Fonder AB Makes New Investment in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 29,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $919,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 1.2% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 31,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $959,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 9,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 11,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 13,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $434,000 after buying an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Steven J. Lykken purchased 4,904 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $32.47 per share, for a total transaction of $159,232.88. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now owns 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $230,537. This represents a 223.32 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HRL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BNP Paribas started coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.00.

Hormel Foods Stock Up 0.1 %

HRL opened at $29.93 on Monday. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12 month low of $28.51 and a 12 month high of $36.86. The business has a 50-day moving average of $31.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.26.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 6.75%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. This is a positive change from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.88%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.40%.

About Hormel Foods

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.