Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Shares Sold by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can reduced its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 22.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 748,043 shares of the company’s stock after selling 220,253 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $23,466,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in HRL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $102,598,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 67.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,926,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,810,000 after buying an additional 1,175,087 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the 4th quarter valued at $16,612,000. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new position in Hormel Foods during the 4th quarter valued at about $10,684,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Hormel Foods by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,241,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,168,257,000 after acquiring an additional 268,328 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HRL has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays raised shares of Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hormel Foods has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In other Hormel Foods news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.40, for a total transaction of $136,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 95,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,902,835.20. The trade was a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of HRL opened at $30.26 on Friday. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1 year low of $27.59 and a 1 year high of $36.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.64 billion, a PE ratio of 20.73, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 2.32. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.54.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.67%.

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.