Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Sells 28,691 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 34.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 54,928 shares of the company’s stock after selling 28,691 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $1,741,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HRL. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,089,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,210,000 after acquiring an additional 412,313 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position 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 valued at $90,738,000 after purchasing an additional 575,378 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 0.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,772,481 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,043,000 after purchasing an additional 6,315 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 86.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 26.1% during the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 1,560,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,479,000 after buying an additional 322,645 shares during the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Shares of HRL opened at $30.39 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.66 billion, a PE ratio of 21.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $31.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.01. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1-year low of $28.51 and a 1-year high of $36.86.

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

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a $0.282 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is currently 79.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $976,094.99. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 30,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $976,094.99. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total transaction of $1,648,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 72,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,313,850.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 71,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,288,338 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on HRL shares. Citigroup raised shares of Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Stephens began coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.57.

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.