Empowered Funds LLC Increases Stock Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 23.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,793 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,551 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $2,720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 15.4% in 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 period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,976,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,738,000 after purchasing an additional 575,378 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,772,481 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,043,000 after purchasing an additional 6,315 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased 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 valued at $48,867,000 after buying an additional 742,859 shares during the period. Finally, Vest Financial LLC raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 26.1% in the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 1,560,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,479,000 after buying an additional 322,645 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on HRL. Stephens started coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.29.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of Hormel Foods stock opened at $29.75 on Wednesday. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1 year low of $28.51 and a 1 year high of $36.86. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $31.12 and its 200 day moving average is $31.81. The stock has a market cap of $16.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.95, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The business’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were paid a $0.282 dividend. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.58%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total transaction of $312,718.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $976,094.99. The trade was a 24.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $1,648,620.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 72,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,313,850.95. This trade represents a 41.61 % decrease in their position. 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 ninety days. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.