Quest Partners LLC Sells 6,227 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Quest Partners LLC decreased its position in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 41.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,882 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,227 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $282,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 688.3% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 741 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Hormel Foods during the second quarter worth about $34,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Hormel Foods in the second quarter valued at about $37,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 516.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $976,094.99. This represents a 24.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 39,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,276,935. This trade represents a 20.39 % 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 worth $2,288,338 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HRL. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.29.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

NYSE HRL opened at $31.44 on Tuesday. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12-month low of $28.51 and a 12-month high of $36.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $31.02 and its 200-day moving average is $31.69. The company has a market capitalization of $17.24 billion, a PE ratio of 22.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The business 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 is a positive change from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is 79.58%.

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.