Kentucky Retirement Systems Lowers Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems reduced its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 7.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,245 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,629 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $642,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 688.3% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Hormel Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC bought a new position in Hormel Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 516.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares during the period. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Hormel Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. 40.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In other Hormel Foods news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total value of $327,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 39,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,276,935. This trade represents a 20.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total value of $312,718.00. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 71,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,288,338 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HRL. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Stephens began coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.29.

Hormel Foods Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE HRL opened at $29.75 on Wednesday. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52 week low of $28.51 and a 52 week high of $36.86. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $16.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.26.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were paid a $0.282 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.79%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.58%.

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.