Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Shares Sold by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc reduced its holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 0.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 616,078 shares of the company’s stock after selling 810 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned 0.11% of Hormel Foods worth $18,784,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the fourth quarter valued at $62,323,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 97.8% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,900,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,151,000 after buying an additional 1,434,437 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 24.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,976,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,738,000 after buying an additional 575,378 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 505,942 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 40.6% during the first quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 1,221,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,606,000 after acquiring an additional 352,896 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In other news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total value 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 $2,313,850.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total value of $1,648,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,313,850.95. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total value of $327,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,276,935. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of Hormel Foods stock opened at $31.48 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12-month low of $28.51 and a 12-month high of $39.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.26 billion, a PE ratio of 22.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.25. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $32.06 and its 200-day moving average is $32.90.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current year.

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.