Bank of Nova Scotia Has $917,000 Stake in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL)

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia has reduced its holdings in Hormel Foods Corporation by 24.4%, selling 9,540 shares, and now owns 29,635 shares worth approximately $917,000.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.29 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $1.16 and a yield of 4.1%.
• Hormel Foods reported earnings per share of $0.35 for the last quarter, meeting analysts' expectations, while revenue was slightly below forecasts at $2.90 billion.

Bank of Nova Scotia lowered its stake in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 24.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,635 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,540 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $917,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HRL. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 9,725.4% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,335,797 shares of the company's stock valued at $72,270,000 after acquiring an additional 2,312,024 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 496.3% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,185,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,562,000 after acquiring an additional 1,819,100 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 466.5% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,053,160 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,690,746 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,374,456 shares of the company's stock valued at $137,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,107,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 186.0% in the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 1,041,356 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,667,000 after acquiring an additional 677,194 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company's stock.

Hormel Foods Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE HRL traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $28.49. 1,862,551 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,403,526. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.79. The company has a market capitalization of $15.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.31. Hormel Foods Corporation has a 12 month low of $27.59 and a 12 month high of $33.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

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

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 14th. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on HRL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Bank of America raised shares of Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hormel Foods currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.