Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Hold” consensus on Hormel Foods, with six hold, two buy and one sell ratings. The average 12-month price target is $26.14, above the reported share price of $20.51.
• Hormel’s latest quarter beat earnings expectations, reporting $0.37 EPS versus $0.35 expected, though revenue of $2.96 billion fell short of estimates and declined 2.4% year over year. Management provided fiscal 2026 EPS guidance of $1.45–$1.51.
• Institutional investors own approximately 40.99% of Hormel, while director Gary C. Bhojwani sold 20,200 shares worth about $495,000, reducing his holdings by 38.7%.

Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Hold" from the nine ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $26.1429.

HRL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price target on Hormel Foods from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Hormel Foods from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Friday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Finally, Stephens set a $23.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Friday, August 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In other news, Director Gary C. Bhojwani sold 20,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total transaction of $495,102.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 32,002 shares in the company, valued at approximately $784,369.02. This represents a 38.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Hormel Foods

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRL. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Hormel Foods in the second quarter worth approximately $489,092,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,080,832 shares of the company's stock valued at $190,805,000 after acquiring an additional 63,583 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,849,174 shares of the company's stock valued at $155,152,000 after acquiring an additional 134,983 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the fourth quarter worth approximately $85,840,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 7.8% during the second quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 2,285,103 shares of the company's stock worth $56,716,000 after purchasing an additional 165,403 shares during the period. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of HRL opened at $20.51 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.33. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $23.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.99. Hormel Foods has a 12 month low of $19.70 and a 12 month high of $26.60.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 27th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 9.91% and a net margin of 2.82%.The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.35 EPS. Hormel Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.450-1.510 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Hormel Foods will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

About Hormel Foods

Hormel Foods Corporation NYSE: HRL is a global food company that develops, produces and markets branded meat, prepared foods and other grocery products. Its portfolio includes SPAM luncheon meat, Hormel pepperoni, Hormel Compleats meals, Jennie-O turkey products, Applegate natural and organic foods, Columbus deli meats and Planters snack products.

The company sells products through retail grocery channels, foodservice operations and international markets. Its offerings are used by consumers, restaurants, schools, hospitals and other institutional customers, with products distributed across the United States and in selected markets worldwide.

Founded in 1891 by George A.

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