Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 94,908 Shares of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its position in shares of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,831,760 shares of the company's stock after selling 94,908 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.51% of Hormel Foods worth $87,615,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the 1st quarter valued at $441,000. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 11.8% in the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 60,616 shares of the company's stock worth $1,922,000 after acquiring an additional 6,402 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 306.1% in the first quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 40,227 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,245,000 after acquiring an additional 30,322 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 452,925 shares of the company's stock worth $14,014,000 after purchasing an additional 48,657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 78.8% during the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 146,541 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,534,000 after buying an additional 64,577 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company's stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of Hormel Foods stock traded down $1.03 on Friday, hitting $30.51. 8,333,504 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,733,099. Hormel Foods Corporation has a 1 year low of $27.59 and a 1 year high of $33.80. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.06. 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 has a market capitalization of $16.78 billion, a PE ratio of 21.17, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.33.

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, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 6.27%. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 14th. Hormel Foods's payout ratio is presently 85.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.