Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) Shares Sold by Bellwether Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Bellwether Advisors LLC has significantly reduced its stake in Hormel Foods by selling 56,179 shares, resulting in an ownership of 11,237 shares, valued at approximately $348,000.
• Hormel reported earnings per share of $0.35 for the last quarter, matching analysts' estimates, with a revenue of $2.90 billion, slightly below the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion.
• The company is set to pay a $0.29 quarterly dividend on August 15th, with a dividend yield of 3.97% and a payout ratio of 85.29%.

Bellwether Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 83.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,237 shares of the company's stock after selling 56,179 shares during the period. Bellwether Advisors LLC's holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $348,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HRL. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the first quarter valued at about $38,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Riverview Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 183.8% during the first quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 1,572 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 1,018 shares in the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, YANKCOM Partnership raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 18.5% in the first quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 3,081 shares of the company's stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hormel Foods Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of Hormel Foods stock traded down $0.41 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $28.29. 2,905,415 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,116,365. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $30.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.89. 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. The stock has a market cap of $15.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.33.

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

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 14th. Hormel Foods's payout ratio is 85.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.