Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Increases Stock Holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 39,291 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 849 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $1,233,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of HRL. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 4.4% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 818,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,944,000 after purchasing an additional 34,589 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in Hormel Foods by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 452,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,345,000 after acquiring an additional 52,457 shares during the last quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 924,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,302,000 after acquiring an additional 26,390 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,846,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,548,000 after acquiring an additional 66,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the third quarter worth about $1,025,000. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on HRL shares. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Barclays raised Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

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

Hormel Foods Price Performance

HRL stock opened at $28.99 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $31.04 and its 200 day moving average is $31.36. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52 week low of $28.51 and a 52 week high of $36.86. The firm has a market cap of $15.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 2.32.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 6.75%. The company had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. Hormel Foods’s revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.66 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 issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.00%. 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. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.45%.

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.