AQR Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

AQR Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 35.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 766,808 shares of the company's stock after selling 423,120 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.14% of Hormel Foods worth $23,963,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 9,905 shares of the company's stock worth $311,000 after buying an additional 934 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 626,360 shares of the company's stock worth $19,649,000 after purchasing an additional 20,514 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 58.9% during the 4th 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 increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 33.9% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, DnB Asset Management AS lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 71,010 shares of the company's stock worth $2,228,000 after purchasing an additional 9,120 shares during the period. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Hormel Foods Price Performance

NYSE:HRL traded down $0.15 on Friday, reaching $29.24. 401,647 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,594,438. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12 month low of $27.59 and a 12 month high of $36.86. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.36. The firm has a market cap of $16.08 billion, a PE ratio of 20.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.34.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 84.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.40, for a total transaction of $136,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 95,488 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,902,835.20. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

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.