Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) Rating Increased to Hold at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also commented on HRL. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $32.00.

Hormel Foods Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE HRL traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $30.65. 4,464,430 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,651,403. The stock has a market cap of $16.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.99, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.34. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.26. Hormel Foods has a 1-year low of $27.59 and a 1-year high of $33.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.35. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Hormel Foods will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 14th will be given a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 14th. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 84.67%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.40, for a total value of $136,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 95,488 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,902,835.20. The trade was a 4.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hormel Foods

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 8,029 shares of the company's stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Exeter Financial LLC grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Exeter Financial LLC now owns 16,809 shares of the company's stock worth $520,000 after buying an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 10,038 shares of the company's stock worth $315,000 after buying an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 3,097 shares of the company's stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simmons Bank grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 12,708 shares of the company's stock worth $393,000 after buying an additional 448 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company's stock.

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.