Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Shares Bought by Everence Capital Management Inc.

Everence Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 122.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,930 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,820 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $845,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 56.0% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,237,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,934,000 after buying an additional 802,816 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 86.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,602,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,867,000 after acquiring an additional 742,859 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,068,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,659,000 after acquiring an additional 617,308 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in 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. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Hormel Foods by 59.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,244,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,470,000 after purchasing an additional 462,283 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on HRL shares. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup dropped their price target on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Stephens started coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.29.

Hormel Foods Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of HRL opened at $31.36 on Friday. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12 month low of $28.51 and a 12 month high of $36.86. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $31.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market cap of $17.22 billion, a PE ratio of 21.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.26.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 6.75%. The business’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. This is a positive change from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is presently 79.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Steven J. Lykken acquired 4,904 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $32.47 per share, for a total transaction of $159,232.88. Following the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $230,537. The trade was a 223.32 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.72% 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.