14,480 Shares in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) Acquired by CCM Investment Group LLC

Key Points

• CCM Investment Group LLC purchased 14,480 shares of Hormel Foods for approximately $440,000 in the 1st quarter, indicating growing interest in the stock among institutional investors.
• The company's shares are trading near their 52-week low of $27.59, but several analysts have set new price targets, showing a potential upside for investors.
• Hormel Foods announced a quarterly dividend of $0.29 per share, representing an annual yield of 4.1%, signaling commitment to returning value to shareholders.

CCM Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 14,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $440,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 6,072,682 shares of the company's stock valued at $190,500,000 after acquiring an additional 413,669 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,488,678 shares of the company's stock valued at $140,810,000 after acquiring an additional 261,742 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 33.9% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,751,307 shares of the company's stock valued at $117,674,000 after acquiring an additional 634,630 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,966,225 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,050,000 after acquiring an additional 306,567 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on HRL. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $31.00 target price 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. BNP Paribas Exane raised Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. Four investment 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Hormel Foods currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $32.86.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of HRL traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $28.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,340,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,099,641. Hormel Foods Corporation has a 1-year low of $27.59 and a 1-year high of $33.80. The stock has a market cap of $15.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.91, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.31. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.74. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 6.27%. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.92 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. The business's 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

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