Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Acquires 146,000 Shares of Hormel Foods Corporation $HRL

Key Points

• Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its holdings in Hormel Foods Corporation by 122.1%, acquiring 146,000 additional shares, bringing their total to 265,546 shares valued at approximately $8.2 million.
• Several institutional investors have also raised their stakes in Hormel Foods, with 40.99% of the company’s stock now owned by hedge funds and other investors.
• Hormel Foods reported $0.35 EPS for the recent quarter, missing expectations, but achieved a revenue of $3.03 billion, above analyst estimates of $2.98 billion.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its stake in shares of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 122.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 265,546 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 146,000 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.'s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $8,216,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Perbak Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the first quarter valued at $330,000. ICW Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.1% during the first quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 45,399 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,405,000 after acquiring an additional 926 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods during the 1st quarter valued at $237,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods during the 1st quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 348.1% during the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 32,202 shares of the company's stock valued at $996,000 after purchasing an additional 25,015 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hormel Foods Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:HRL traded down $0.34 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $25.08. The company had a trading volume of 2,391,525 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,675,733. Hormel Foods Corporation has a 12 month low of $23.71 and a 12 month high of $33.80. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $13.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.31, a PEG ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.31. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.38.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 28th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.98 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.06% and a net margin of 6.26%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.37 earnings per share. Hormel Foods has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.380-0.400 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 1.430-1.450 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HRL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. BNP Paribas raised Hormel Foods from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $34.00 price target (down from $36.00) on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Friday, August 29th. BNP Paribas Exane raised Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Hormel Foods from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.88.

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.