Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) Receives Equal Weight Rating from Stephens

Stephens restated their equal weight rating on shares of Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $31.00 target price on the stock.

HRL has been the topic of several other research reports. BNP Paribas started coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Barclays upgraded Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.17.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HRL opened at $28.27 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 2.32. Hormel Foods has a 52 week low of $28.03 and a 52 week high of $36.86. The firm has a market cap of $15.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.26.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). The company 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Hormel Foods will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, January 13th were issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 13th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. This is a boost from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken bought 4,904 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 7,100 shares in the company, valued at $230,537. This represents a 223.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HRL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,241,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,168,257,000 after acquiring an additional 268,328 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,068,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $794,659,000 after buying an additional 617,308 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,843,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,041,000 after buying an additional 533,657 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,461,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,459,000 after acquiring an additional 98,442 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in Hormel Foods by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 6,072,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $190,500,000 after acquiring an additional 413,669 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.