Syon Capital LLC Makes New $232,000 Investment in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Syon Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 68,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,199,000 after acquiring an additional 4,331 shares during the period. Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP now owns 16,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $521,000 after buying an additional 1,542 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $533,000 after buying an additional 920 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,775,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,020,000 after buying an additional 81,970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Duality Advisers LP purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the 4th quarter worth approximately $470,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.95, for a total transaction of $349,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,352,844.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.95, for a total value of $349,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,352,844.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 15,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $539,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 68,029 shares in the company, valued at $2,381,015. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 40,800 shares of company stock valued at $1,414,872 in the last ninety days. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of HRL opened at $35.32 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12 month low of $28.51 and a 12 month high of $41.73. The company has a market cap of $19.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.27.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.91 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.51% and a net margin of 6.55%. The company’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.2825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is 77.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Hormel Foods from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Hormel Foods from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Hormel Foods from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Citigroup initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Hormel Foods from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.00.

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.