Victory Capital Management Inc. Purchases 208,883 Shares of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL)

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 22.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,150,394 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 208,883 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.21% of Hormel Foods worth $35,593,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Hormel Foods by 12.0% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 452,925 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,014,000 after purchasing an additional 48,657 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 58.9% in the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 313,619 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,838,000 after purchasing an additional 116,304 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,374,456 shares of the company's stock worth $137,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107,270 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 180.4% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 89,025 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,737,000 after buying an additional 57,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DnB Asset Management AS lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 71,010 shares of the company's stock worth $2,228,000 after buying an additional 9,120 shares during the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on HRL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. BNP Paribas raised Hormel Foods from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Bank of America raised Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. BNP Paribas Exane raised Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $32.86.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

HRL stock traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $29.32. 2,032,008 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,275,426. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $16.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.56, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.33. Hormel Foods Corporation has a 1-year low of $27.59 and a 1-year high of $33.80. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.93.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.27% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. Hormel Foods's revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 14th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 14th. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.