Quest Partners LLC Has $282,000 Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Quest Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 41.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,882 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,227 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $282,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,089,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,210,000 after acquiring an additional 412,313 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 24.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,976,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,738,000 after purchasing an additional 575,378 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,772,481 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,043,000 after purchasing an additional 6,315 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 86.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,602,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,867,000 after buying an additional 742,859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC increased its position in Hormel Foods by 26.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 1,560,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,479,000 after buying an additional 322,645 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Hormel Foods

In other Hormel Foods news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total transaction of $327,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 39,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,276,935. This trade represents a 20.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 71,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,288,338 over the last ninety days. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HRL has been the topic of several research reports. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.29.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of Hormel Foods stock opened at $31.44 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $31.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.69. The company has a market capitalization of $17.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.14, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 2.29 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.

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 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 business had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, January 13th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This is an increase from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.58%.

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.