Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Takes $2.23 Million Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 63,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,231,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mairs & Power Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Mairs & Power Inc. now owns 5,459,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $175,290,000 after acquiring an additional 108,944 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 6.0% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,059,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,366,000 after buying an additional 172,110 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 97.8% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,900,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,151,000 after buying an additional 1,434,437 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,654,609 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,239,000 after buying an additional 144,605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,583,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,963,000 after buying an additional 196,460 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HRL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Hormel Foods from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $28.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Friday, May 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Hormel Foods from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Barclays boosted 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. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Hormel Foods from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.67.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of HRL opened at $30.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1 year low of $28.51 and a 1 year high of $41.73. The firm has a market cap of $16.80 billion, a PE ratio of 21.89, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.25. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $33.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.69.

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

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.2825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.69%. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is 80.71%.

Insider Activity at Hormel Foods

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

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.