Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) Shares Sold by Invesco Ltd.

Invesco Ltd. lessened its stake in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 7.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,287,753 shares of the company's stock after selling 555,454 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned about 1.33% of Hormel Foods worth $225,483,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HRL. Exeter Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Exeter Financial LLC now owns 16,809 shares of the company's stock worth $520,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. Simmons Bank lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 12,708 shares of the company's stock worth $393,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 17,718 shares of the company's stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. G&S Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. G&S Capital LLC now owns 15,516 shares of the company's stock worth $480,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 17.1% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,220 shares of the company's stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company's stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HRL traded up $0.17 on Friday, reaching $28.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,569,305 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,776,850. The stock's 50-day moving average is $29.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.72. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $15.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.93, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.31.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.35 EPS 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 analysts' expectations of $2.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on HRL. BNP Paribas raised shares of Hormel Foods from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $32.86.

Hormel Foods Company 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.