Citigroup Inc. Has $14.35 Million Stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Citigroup Inc. increased its position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 13.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 452,510 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 52,457 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $14,345,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,089,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,210,000 after purchasing an additional 412,313 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Hormel Foods by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,846,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,548,000 after buying an additional 66,261 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Hormel Foods by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,772,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,043,000 after buying an additional 6,315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Hormel Foods by 86.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,602,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,867,000 after buying an additional 742,859 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

NYSE:HRL opened at $31.91 on Thursday. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1 year low of $28.51 and a 1 year high of $36.86. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.66. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.50 billion, a PE ratio of 22.47, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.26.

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

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, January 13th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 13th. This is a positive change from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity at Hormel Foods

In other Hormel Foods news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total value of $327,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,050 shares in the company, valued at $1,276,935. This trade represents a 20.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total transaction of $312,718.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at $976,094.99. This represents a 24.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338. 0.69% of the stock is owned by 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.