Mizuho Markets Americas LLC Sells 45,523 Shares of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL)

Key Points

• Mizuho Markets Americas LLC sold 45,523 shares of Hormel Foods Corporation, reducing its stake by 52.8% to 40,634 shares, valued at $1,257,000 at the end of the first quarter.
• Analysts have revised their ratings on Hormel Foods, with BNP Paribas and Bank of America raising their ratings, the latter increasing the price objective from $29 to $35.
• The company reported quarterly earnings of $0.35 per share, meeting analysts' expectations, with total revenue of $2.90 billion, slightly below the estimated $2.92 billion.

Mizuho Markets Americas LLC decreased its position in shares of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 52.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,634 shares of the company's stock after selling 45,523 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC's holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $1,257,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Exeter Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Exeter Financial LLC now owns 16,809 shares of the company's stock worth $520,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. Simmons Bank raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 12,708 shares of the company's stock valued at $393,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 17,718 shares of the company's stock valued at $548,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares during the period. G&S Capital LLC raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. G&S Capital LLC now owns 15,516 shares of the company's stock valued at $480,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,312 shares of the company's stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Hormel Foods Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of NYSE HRL traded down $0.64 on Thursday, reaching $28.34. 1,482,413 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,099,631. The company has a market cap of $15.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.31. 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 business's 50 day simple moving average is $29.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.76. Hormel Foods Corporation has a 12 month low of $27.59 and a 12 month high of $33.80.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.35. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.27% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 14th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 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.