Private Advisor Group LLC Has $3.25 Million Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 102,418 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 11,170 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $3,247,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 9.9% during the 1st 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. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Hormel Foods by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,089,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,210,000 after purchasing an additional 412,313 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 575,378 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,772,481 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,043,000 after buying an additional 6,315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 86.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,602,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,867,000 after buying an additional 742,859 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HRL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued 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 upped their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hormel Foods has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.57.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of HRL opened at $31.06 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.03 billion, a PE ratio of 21.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.25. 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 one year low of $28.51 and a one year high of $36.86. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $31.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.35.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 6.52%. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a $0.282 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is 79.58%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total transaction of $1,648,620.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 72,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,313,850.95. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Hormel Foods news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,421 shares in the company, valued at $2,313,850.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total transaction of $312,718.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $976,094.99. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 71,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,288,338. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.