BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 16,141 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets trimmed its position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 3.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 416,016 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,141 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned about 0.08% of Hormel Foods worth $13,188,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRL. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,089,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,210,000 after buying an additional 412,313 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 24.0% in the second 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 3.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 66,261 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 0.4% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 86.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,602,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,867,000 after purchasing an additional 742,859 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction on 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 owns 30,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $976,094.99. This trade represents a 24.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 72,421 shares in the company, valued at $2,313,850.95. This represents a 41.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of HRL stock opened at $32.43 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $31.01 and its 200 day moving average is $31.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.84, a PEG ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.26. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12 month low of $28.51 and a 12 month high of $36.86. 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 (NYSE:HRL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 6.52%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. 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 payout ratio is presently 81.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on HRL. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They set 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 for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.29.

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.