GSA Capital Partners LLP Reduces Stock Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

GSA Capital Partners LLP trimmed its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 22.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,797 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,382 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $945,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 86.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,602,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,867,000 after purchasing an additional 742,859 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 24.0% during the second 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 in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 59.1% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,244,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,470,000 after buying an additional 462,283 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,089,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,210,000 after buying an additional 412,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 328.3% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 514,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,297,000 after acquiring an additional 394,068 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HRL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Stephens started coverage on 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. Finally, Citigroup raised Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.57.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the business’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 in the company, valued at approximately $976,094.99. The trade was a 24.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total transaction of $1,648,620.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,313,850.95. This trade represents a 41.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 over the last ninety days. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

NYSE HRL opened at $29.21 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $16.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.26. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52-week low of $28.51 and a 52-week high of $36.86. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $31.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.98. 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 released 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 return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 6.52%. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a $0.282 dividend. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is 79.58%.

Hormel Foods 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.