Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Shares Bought by Nomura Holdings Inc.

Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,967 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,443 shares during the quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $1,026,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter valued at $62,323,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Hormel Foods by 97.8% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,900,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,151,000 after buying an additional 1,434,437 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 54.4% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 868,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,880,000 after buying an additional 305,866 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the third quarter valued at approximately $8,595,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 195.1% during the third quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 304,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,584,000 after acquiring an additional 201,377 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HRL opened at $30.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.73. Hormel Foods Co. has a one year low of $28.51 and a one year high of $41.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.77, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.25. The company’s fifty day moving average is $33.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.70.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.02. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.37% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.2825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HRL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Barclays increased their price objective on Hormel Foods from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Citigroup cut their price target on Hormel Foods from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 owns 68,029 shares in the company, valued at $2,381,015. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 15,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $539,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 68,029 shares in the company, valued at $2,381,015. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 38,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,352,844.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.