Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Stake Lowered by Geneos Wealth Management Inc.

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. decreased its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,986 shares of the company’s stock after selling 363 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 56.0% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,237,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,934,000 after purchasing an additional 802,816 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,068,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $794,659,000 after acquiring an additional 617,308 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 328.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 514,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,297,000 after acquiring an additional 394,068 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 26.1% during the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 1,560,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,479,000 after purchasing an additional 322,645 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 3,267,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,570,000 after purchasing an additional 162,577 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of HRL opened at $30.20 on Thursday. Hormel Foods Co. has a one year low of $28.51 and a one year high of $36.86. The company has a 50-day moving average of $31.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.48. 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 cap of $16.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.68, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.26.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The business had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. Hormel Foods’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. This is an increase from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.84%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.45%.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In related news, VP Steven J. Lykken bought 4,904 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was bought at an average price 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 in the company, valued at $230,537. This represents a 223.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on HRL shares. Stephens initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup reduced their price objective 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. Barclays upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.17.

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.