BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $30.00 price target on the stock.
A number of other analysts have also weighed in on HRL. Bank of America raised shares of 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 note on Tuesday, April 15th. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $32.00.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on HRL
Hormel Foods Stock Performance
HRL traded up $0.27 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $30.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,464,430 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,651,403. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.85 billion, a PE ratio of 20.99, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.34. Hormel Foods has a fifty-two week low of $27.59 and a fifty-two week high of $33.80.
Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 6.75%. The company's quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Hormel Foods will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.
Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 14th. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio is presently 84.67%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Hormel Foods 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 value of $136,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hormel Foods
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HRL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,241,219 shares of the company's stock worth $1,168,257,000 after buying an additional 268,328 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,843,207 shares of the company's stock worth $246,041,000 after acquiring an additional 533,657 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,461,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $233,459,000 after acquiring an additional 98,442 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,488,678 shares of the company's stock valued at $140,810,000 after acquiring an additional 261,742 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Hormel Foods
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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