USS Investment Management Ltd Has $4.21 Million Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

USS Investment Management Ltd reduced its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 28.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 134,298 shares of the company’s stock after selling 52,844 shares during the period. USS Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $4,214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 86.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 91.8% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on HRL shares. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.33.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Hormel Foods stock opened at $29.46 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.18, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12-month low of $27.59 and a 12-month high of $35.33. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $29.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.28.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.94%. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is 84.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hormel Foods news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 95,488 shares in the company, valued at $2,902,835.20. This represents a 4.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Company 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.