Numerai GP LLC Takes Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Numerai GP LLC purchased a new stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 28,924 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $907,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 9,905 shares of the company's stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 934 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 626,360 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,649,000 after purchasing an additional 20,514 shares during the period. Aviva PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 58.9% in the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 313,619 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,838,000 after purchasing an additional 116,304 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,374,456 shares of the company's stock valued at $137,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107,270 shares during the period. Finally, DnB Asset Management AS boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 71,010 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,228,000 after purchasing an additional 9,120 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.40, for a total transaction of $136,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 95,488 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,902,835.20. This represents a 4.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hormel Foods Stock Up 1.2%

Hormel Foods stock traded up $0.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $30.53. 3,067,893 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,634,501. The business has a fifty day moving average of $29.90 and a 200 day moving average of $30.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 2.32. The firm has a market cap of $16.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.91, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.34. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12-month low of $27.59 and a 12-month high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th were issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 84.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays upgraded Hormel Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.33.

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.