ProShare Advisors LLC Acquires 849,357 Shares of Hormel Foods Corporation $HRL

ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) by 14.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,618,755 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 849,357 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned about 1.20% of Hormel Foods worth $156,864,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GoalVest Advisory LLC bought a new position in Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. MUFG Securities EMEA plc bought a new position in Hormel Foods in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new position in Hormel Foods in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 514.6% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,512 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 1,266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in Hormel Foods in the third quarter worth approximately $64,000. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $23.00 price target (down from $28.00) on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hormel Foods has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.00.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of HRL stock opened at $20.39 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.98. The company has a market cap of $11.22 billion, a PE ratio of 22.91, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Hormel Foods Corporation has a 12-month low of $19.70 and a 12-month high of $31.86.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 4.03%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. Hormel Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.430-1.510 EPS. Analysts expect that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 13th will be given a dividend of $0.2925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 13th. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.7%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 131.46%.

About Hormel Foods

Hormel Foods Corporation is a global branded foods company primarily engaged in the production, marketing and distribution of value-added, high-quality meat and food products. The company’s portfolio spans a range of categories including refrigerated and frozen meats, pantry staples, specialty foods and shelf-stable items. Through manufacturing facilities located across North America and international markets, Hormel Foods supplies retail grocers, foodservice operators, convenience stores and e-commerce platforms.

Among its best-known brands, Hormel Foods produces SPAM® canned meats, Jennie-O® turkey products, Skippy® peanut butter and Applegate® natural and organic meats.