Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) have been given a consensus rating of “Reduce” by the seven brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $31.57.

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 target price for the company. Citigroup raised shares of Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock.

Hormel Foods Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of HRL stock opened at $31.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $17.03 billion, a PE ratio of 21.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a 50-day moving average of $31.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.39. Hormel Foods has a 1-year low of $28.51 and a 1-year high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 11.03%. Hormel Foods’s revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Hormel Foods will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a $0.282 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.58%.

Insider Activity at Hormel Foods

In related news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total value of $1,648,620.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 72,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,313,850.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Hormel Foods news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total value of $1,648,620.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,421 shares in the company, valued at $2,313,850.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total transaction of $327,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 39,050 shares in the company, valued at $1,276,935. This represents a 0.00 % 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 valued at $2,288,338 over the last 90 days. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hormel Foods

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 86.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,602,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,867,000 after acquiring an additional 742,859 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 24.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,976,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,738,000 after acquiring an additional 575,378 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 9.9% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,638,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,729,000 after acquiring an additional 505,942 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 59.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,244,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,470,000 after acquiring an additional 462,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 15.4% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,089,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,210,000 after acquiring an additional 412,313 shares during the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.