Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Shares Acquired by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 2.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 77,360 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,498 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $2,454,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HRL. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Hormel Foods during the third quarter worth $32,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Hormel Foods in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Hormel Foods by 516.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 1,132 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on HRL shares. Stephens initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hormel Foods presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.29.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

NYSE HRL opened at $32.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 2.32. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $31.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.26. Hormel Foods Co. has a fifty-two week low of $28.51 and a fifty-two week high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last posted 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). 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. This is a boost from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 13th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is 79.45%.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In related news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total transaction of $327,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,276,935. This trade represents a 20.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Steven J. Lykken bought 4,904 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $32.47 per share, for a total transaction of $159,232.88. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $230,537. The trade was a 223.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.