MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL)

MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the first quarter valued at about $1,283,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 12.0% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 452,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,014,000 after buying an additional 48,657 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 58.9% in the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 313,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,838,000 after buying an additional 116,304 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,374,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,227,000 after buying an additional 1,107,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 180.4% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 89,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,737,000 after buying an additional 57,280 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hormel Foods Trading Down 2.3%

NYSE HRL opened at $28.56 on Tuesday. Hormel Foods Corporation has a 12 month low of $27.59 and a 12 month high of $33.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The company has a market capitalization of $15.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.33. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $30.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.90.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.35. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 6.27%. The business’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 14th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 14th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. BNP Paribas upgraded Hormel Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Hormel Foods from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Hormel Foods from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.86.

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.