Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Increases Holdings in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL)

Key Points

• The Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its stake in Hormel Foods by 27.2%, now holding 176,452 shares valued at approximately $5.46 million.
• Several hedge funds have also boosted their investments in Hormel Foods, contributing to a total institutional ownership of 40.99%.
• Analysts have recently upgraded Hormel Foods' stock ratings with a consensus target price of $32.86 and a rating of "Moderate Buy."

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its stake in shares of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 27.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 176,452 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 37,700 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $5,459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 10,779 shares of the company's stock valued at $334,000 after buying an additional 995 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 182,926 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,654,000 after buying an additional 15,996 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 209,878 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,451,000 after buying an additional 15,954 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 23.7% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 101,050 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,126,000 after buying an additional 19,391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 37,864 shares of the company's stock worth $1,172,000 after purchasing an additional 2,974 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HRL has been the subject of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas upgraded Hormel Foods from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $32.86.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Hormel Foods stock opened at $28.47 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 2.47. The company has a fifty day moving average of $29.73 and a 200 day moving average of $29.72. Hormel Foods Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $27.59 and a fifty-two week high of $33.80.

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, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.35. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion during 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%. Hormel Foods's quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 14th were issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 14th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 85.29%.

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.

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