Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Shares Bought by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 516.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,351 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $43,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 9,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $346,000 after buying an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 1.2% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 31,499 shares of the company’s stock worth $959,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 2.0% in the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 20,291 shares of the company’s stock valued at $708,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Viawealth LLC grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Viawealth LLC now owns 17,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $598,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 41,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,273,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of HRL opened at $31.56 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.30 billion, a PE ratio of 22.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.25. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $31.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12-month low of $28.51 and a 12-month high of $36.86.

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

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is 80.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on HRL shares. Stephens assumed coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Citigroup upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hormel Foods presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total value of $1,648,620.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 72,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,313,850.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total value of $1,648,620.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 72,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,313,850.95. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,276,935. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 71,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,288,338. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.