Dividend Assets Capital LLC Sells 1,714 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Dividend Assets Capital LLC decreased its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,279 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,714 shares during the quarter. Dividend Assets Capital LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $668,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Hormel Foods in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Hormel Foods in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods in the third quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 2.8 %

Hormel Foods stock opened at $29.66 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.31, a PEG ratio of 2.70 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $28.03 and a 52 week high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 6.75%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 13th were paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 13th. 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 3.91%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Steven J. Lykken acquired 4,904 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $32.47 per share, for a total transaction of $159,232.88. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now owns 7,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $230,537. This represents a 223.32 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HRL. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup cut their price target on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued 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, Hormel Foods presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.17.

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.