Bryce Point Capital LLC Reduces Position in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL)

Key Points

• Bryce Point Capital LLC reduced its stake in Hormel Foods by 58.9%, holding 21,420 shares worth $614,000 after selling 30,708 shares in the first quarter.
• Hormel Foods reported quarterly earnings of $0.35 per share, matching expectations, with revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.29 per share, representing a 3.97% dividend yield, with a payout ratio of 85.29%.

Bryce Point Capital LLC trimmed its position in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 58.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,420 shares of the company's stock after selling 30,708 shares during the quarter. Bryce Point Capital LLC's holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $614,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the fourth quarter worth $102,598,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Hormel Foods by 9,725.4% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,335,797 shares of the company's stock worth $72,270,000 after purchasing an additional 2,312,024 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,819,100 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 466.5% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,053,160 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,690,746 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,107,270 shares during the period. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HRL traded down $0.44 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $28.26. The company had a trading volume of 1,682,266 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,106,782. The firm has a market cap of $15.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.78, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company's 50-day moving average price is $30.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.89. Hormel Foods Corporation has a one year low of $27.59 and a one year high of $33.80.

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

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 14th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio is presently 85.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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