Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) Shares Bought by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 306.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,227 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 30,322 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $1,245,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Hormel Foods during the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. Riverview Trust Co raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,018 shares in the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan purchased a new stake in Hormel Foods during the fourth quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 34.4% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 3,187 shares of the company's stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 816 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company's stock.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

HRL stock traded down $1.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $30.51. The stock had a trading volume of 8,333,504 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,733,099. The company's 50 day moving average price is $30.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.05. 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 $16.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 2.47.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last announced 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 14th. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 85.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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