Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Shares Purchased by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 13.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,419 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 526 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $140,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Hormel Foods in the third quarter valued at $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 516.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Hormel Foods during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 638 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on HRL shares. Barclays upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup cut 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, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Steven J. Lykken bought 4,904 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $32.47 per share, for a total transaction of $159,232.88. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

HRL opened at $29.27 on Thursday. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1 year low of $28.51 and a 1 year high of $36.86. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.07 billion, a PE ratio of 20.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.66 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. This is an increase from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is 79.45%.

Hormel Foods 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.