Hormel Foods Corporation $HRL Shares Bought by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP has increased its holdings in Hormel Foods Corporation by 10.8%, owning over 4 million shares valued at approximately $128.6 million.
• The company's quarterly earnings met expectations at $0.35 per share, with total revenue of $2.90 billion, but fell slightly short of analysts' forecasts.
• Various brokerages have recently upgraded Hormel Foods' stock ratings, with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase setting target prices of $35.00 and $34.00, respectively.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 10.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,157,026 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 405,719 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.76% of Hormel Foods worth $128,594,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in HRL. Mariner LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 65,956 shares of the company's stock worth $2,069,000 after acquiring an additional 10,889 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 76,908 shares of the company's stock worth $2,413,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 699,941 shares of the company's stock worth $21,907,000 after acquiring an additional 26,962 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter worth $616,000. Finally, Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter worth $1,780,000. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 0.9%

HRL stock traded up $0.26 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $29.02. 4,646,679 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,309,689. The business's 50 day moving average price is $29.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.67. Hormel Foods Corporation has a 52-week low of $27.59 and a 52-week high of $33.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.96 billion, a PE ratio of 21.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.31.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 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 business earned $0.38 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Hormel Foods has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.580-1.680 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HRL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, June 23rd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. BNP Paribas raised Hormel Foods from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Hormel Foods from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. BNP Paribas Exane raised Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $33.00.

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.