AMG National Trust Bank Cuts Stake in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL)

AMG National Trust Bank trimmed its holdings in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 5.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 400,243 shares of the company's stock after selling 24,400 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank owned approximately 0.07% of Hormel Foods worth $12,384,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter valued at $1,330,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Hormel Foods in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,891,000. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 81,659 shares of the company's stock worth $2,562,000 after buying an additional 4,299 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 69,538 shares of the company's stock worth $2,181,000 after acquiring an additional 2,957 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 114,528 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,593,000 after acquiring an additional 14,886 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on HRL. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Bank of America upgraded Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, June 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $32.86.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

HRL stock traded down $0.04 during trading on Monday, reaching $29.10. 748,018 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,765,441. Hormel Foods Corporation has a 52-week low of $27.59 and a 52-week high of $33.80. The company has a market cap of $16.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.40, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 2.47. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $30.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.96.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 6.27%. The company's quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 14th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.99%. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.29%.

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.