Blue Trust Inc. Has $86,000 Stock Holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Blue Trust Inc. trimmed its position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 29.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,749 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,144 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $86,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. G&S Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. G&S Capital LLC now owns 15,053 shares of the company’s stock valued at $472,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new stake in Hormel Foods during the 4th quarter worth approximately $16,612,000. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Hormel Foods by 43.1% during the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 10,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 3,075 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in Hormel Foods by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 1,825,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,271,000 after purchasing an additional 264,813 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Hormel Foods by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 16,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $525,000 after purchasing an additional 3,343 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Hormel Foods

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Steven J. Lykken purchased 4,904 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $230,537. This trade represents a 223.32 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HRL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays raised Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.17.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Shares of HRL opened at $29.66 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.26. Hormel Foods Co. has a twelve month low of $28.03 and a twelve month high of $36.86. The company has a 50 day moving average of $30.31 and a 200-day moving average of $31.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

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

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, January 13th were paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 13th. This is a boost from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.91%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.45%.

About Hormel Foods

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.