California State Teachers Retirement System Reduces Stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

California State Teachers Retirement System lessened its holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 15.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 357,401 shares of the company's stock after selling 66,501 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.06% of Hormel Foods worth $11,212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,241,219 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,168,257,000 after acquiring an additional 268,328 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Hormel Foods by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,843,207 shares of the company's stock valued at $246,041,000 after buying an additional 533,657 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Hormel Foods by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,461,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $233,459,000 after buying an additional 98,442 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 6,072,682 shares of the company's stock valued at $190,500,000 after purchasing an additional 413,669 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,488,678 shares of the company's stock valued at $140,810,000 after purchasing an additional 261,742 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas Exane raised Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Hormel Foods from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. 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. 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 note on Tuesday, April 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.50.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In other Hormel Foods news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.40, for a total value of $136,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 95,488 shares in the company, valued at $2,902,835.20. The trade was a 4.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

HRL traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $30.83. 697,970 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,620,661. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52 week low of $27.59 and a 52 week high of $33.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.95 billion, a PE ratio of 21.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company's 50-day moving average is $30.01 and its 200 day moving average is $30.27.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.35. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 14th will be given a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.76%. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio is presently 85.29%.

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.