Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) Upgraded to “Neutral” at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $35.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $29.00.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on HRL. Barclays upgraded Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.33.

Hormel Foods Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:HRL opened at $30.57 on Tuesday. Hormel Foods has a 1 year low of $27.59 and a 1 year high of $36.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The business’s 50-day moving average is $29.58 and its 200-day moving average is $30.52. The company has a market capitalization of $16.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.31.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hormel Foods

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,241,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,168,257,000 after purchasing an additional 268,328 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,843,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,041,000 after acquiring an additional 533,657 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,461,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,459,000 after acquiring an additional 98,442 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 6,072,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $190,500,000 after acquiring an additional 413,669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,488,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,810,000 after purchasing an additional 261,742 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

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.