Allworth Financial LP Increases Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 105.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,566 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,974 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $472,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRL. Creative Planning lifted its position in Hormel Foods by 8.2% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 120,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,825,000 after purchasing an additional 9,127 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Hormel Foods by 212.9% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,649 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Hormel Foods by 4.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 164,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,206,000 after purchasing an additional 7,663 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in Hormel Foods by 12.2% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 102,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,247,000 after purchasing an additional 11,170 shares during the period. Finally, Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Hormel Foods during the third quarter valued at $902,000. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken purchased 4,904 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 7,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $230,537. This represents a 223.32 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Up 0.9 %

HRL opened at $28.82 on Friday. Hormel Foods Co. has a twelve month low of $28.03 and a twelve month high of $36.86. The company has a market cap of $15.82 billion, a PE ratio of 19.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $30.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.18.

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

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 13th were paid a $0.29 dividend. This is a boost from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 13th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.03%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is 79.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on HRL. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.17.

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.