ING Groep NV Sells 1,745 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

ING Groep NV lessened its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 37,120 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,745 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $1,164,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in HRL. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in Hormel Foods by 67.4% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 110,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,451,000 after buying an additional 44,298 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter worth about $418,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 115,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,616,000 after purchasing an additional 7,377 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 9,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 934 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 10,038 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken purchased 4,904 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,100 shares in the company, valued at $230,537. This trade represents a 223.32 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

HRL opened at $29.66 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $30.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.28 billion, a PE ratio of 20.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.26. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52 week low of $28.03 and a 52 week high of $36.86. 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 data on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 6.75%. The company had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HRL has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently 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.