Short Interest in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Drops By 13.3%

Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,910,000 shares, a decrease of 13.3% from the August 15th total of 9,120,000 shares. Approximately 2.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,230,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

HRL traded up $0.04 on Wednesday, hitting $32.41. 1,699,436 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,678,468. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.15, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Hormel Foods has a 12 month low of $28.51 and a 12 month high of $39.58. The business has a 50-day moving average of $32.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.96.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Hormel Foods will post 1.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup raised Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Hormel Foods from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Friday, May 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total transaction of $1,648,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 72,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,313,850.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hormel Foods

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the second quarter worth about $272,000. Advisory Alpha LLC acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods in the second quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 110.8% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,135,000 after buying an additional 19,571 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the second quarter worth $4,129,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 10.6% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 32,573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $993,000 after acquiring an additional 3,121 shares during the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.