Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Given Consensus Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) has been given an average rating of “Reduce” by the seven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.57.

Several research firms recently issued reports on HRL. Citigroup upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $33.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Stephens began coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 target price for the company.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total transaction of $312,718.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $976,094.99. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total transaction of $327,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 39,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,276,935. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total transaction of $312,718.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $976,094.99. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hormel Foods

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of HRL. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 9.9% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,638,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,729,000 after purchasing an additional 505,942 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 15.4% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,089,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,210,000 after purchasing an additional 412,313 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 24.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,976,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,738,000 after purchasing an additional 575,378 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 0.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,772,481 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,043,000 after purchasing an additional 6,315 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 86.4% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,602,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,867,000 after purchasing an additional 742,859 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HRL opened at $31.06 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Hormel Foods has a 12 month low of $28.51 and a 12 month high of $36.86. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.39. The stock has a market cap of $17.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.87, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.25.

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

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.282 per share. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.58%.

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.