Hormel Foods Corporation $HRL Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc reduced its Hormel Foods stake by 8.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 119,733 shares and leaving it with 1,344,225 shares valued at about $31.9 million.
• Hormel recently beat quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $0.40 versus estimates of $0.35 and revenue of $2.97 billion, while also reaffirming full-year FY2026 EPS guidance of $1.43 to $1.51.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.2925 per share, implying a 5.0% annualized yield, while analysts currently have a consensus Hold rating with an average price target of $25.67.

Legal & General Group Plc cut its stake in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 8.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,344,225 shares of the company's stock after selling 119,733 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.24% of Hormel Foods worth $31,858,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in Hormel Foods by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 55,180 shares of the company's stock worth $1,308,000 after buying an additional 437 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC increased its position in Hormel Foods by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 15,477 shares of the company's stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its position in Hormel Foods by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 8,583 shares of the company's stock worth $203,000 after buying an additional 483 shares during the period. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH increased its position in Hormel Foods by 3.8% in the third quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 13,407 shares of the company's stock worth $332,000 after buying an additional 486 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its position in Hormel Foods by 0.6% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 90,362 shares of the company's stock worth $2,236,000 after buying an additional 560 shares during the period. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

NYSE:HRL opened at $23.26 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $21.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.97. The firm has a market cap of $12.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.36, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.33. Hormel Foods Corporation has a 52-week low of $19.70 and a 52-week high of $31.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 3.82%.Hormel Foods's revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. Hormel Foods has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.430-1.510 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, July 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.2925 per share. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 13th. Hormel Foods's payout ratio is presently 137.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HRL. Stephens raised their price target on Hormel Foods from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America raised their price target on Hormel Foods from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $25.00 price target on Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $23.00 price target (down from $28.00) on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $25.67.

More Hormel Foods News

Here are the key news stories impacting Hormel Foods this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Hormel beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, with broad-based segment profit growth and stronger adjusted margins supporting the stock. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Management reaffirmed full-year adjusted EPS guidance of $1.43 to $1.51, signaling confidence that the profit recovery can continue even after portfolio changes. PR Newswire release
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts responded by raising price targets to $25 from $22-$23, suggesting more upside is possible if the turnaround continues. Benzinga article
• Neutral Sentiment: Hormel updated GAAP EPS guidance lower due to items tied to the turkey business divestiture, but said the impact on adjusted earnings should be minimal.
• Neutral Sentiment: Some reports noted that profit was lower year over year, even though results still came in ahead of expectations and showed operational improvement. WSJ article

About Hormel Foods

Hormel Foods Corporation is a global branded foods company primarily engaged in the production, marketing and distribution of value-added, high-quality meat and food products. The company's portfolio spans a range of categories including refrigerated and frozen meats, pantry staples, specialty foods and shelf-stable items. Through manufacturing facilities located across North America and international markets, Hormel Foods supplies retail grocers, foodservice operators, convenience stores and e-commerce platforms.

Among its best-known brands, Hormel Foods produces SPAM® canned meats, Jennie-O® turkey products, Skippy® peanut butter and Applegate® natural and organic meats.

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