Natixis Advisors LLC Acquires 6,710 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 66,581 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,710 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $2,111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in Hormel Foods by 1.2% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 31,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $959,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the period. Keynote Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 13,202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $419,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 41,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,273,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the period. Finally, Accredited Investors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 13,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $425,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total transaction of $312,718.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $976,094.99. The trade was a 24.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 72,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,313,850.95. This represents a 41.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on HRL shares. Stephens initiated coverage on 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 dropped their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.29.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:HRL opened at $30.67 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $31.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.71. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1-year low of $28.51 and a 1-year high of $36.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.60, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last posted its 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. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 6.52%. Hormel Foods’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. On average, equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were paid a dividend of $0.282 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.58%.

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.