Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the six analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation, one has assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $31.17.

A number of research firms have weighed in on HRL. BNP Paribas began coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays raised Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken bought 4,904 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $230,537. This represents a 223.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hormel Foods

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HRL. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Hormel Foods in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 516.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Down 1.2 %

HRL opened at $29.62 on Tuesday. Hormel Foods has a 12 month low of $28.51 and a 12 month high of $36.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market cap of $16.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.26. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $31.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.46.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Hormel Foods will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 3.92%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.45%.

Hormel Foods Company 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.