IFM Investors Pty Ltd Trims Holdings in Hormel Foods Corporation $HRL

Key Points

• IFM Investors Pty Ltd has reduced its stake in Hormel Foods Corporation by 19.2%, selling 10,425 shares and now holding 43,789 shares valued at approximately $1,355,000.
• Analyst ratings for Hormel Foods show a consensus of Hold with a target price averaging at $30.88, while recent earnings missed expectations at $0.35 EPS against a consensus of $0.41.
• The company reported a 4.6% increase in quarterly revenue compared to the previous year, reaching $3.03 billion, with guidance for FY 2025 set at $1.430-1.450 EPS.

IFM Investors Pty Ltd lessened its stake in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 19.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,789 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,425 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $1,355,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 10.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,157,026 shares of the company's stock worth $128,594,000 after acquiring an additional 405,719 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 1.4% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,007,461 shares of the company's stock worth $93,051,000 after acquiring an additional 41,236 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 9,725.4% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,335,797 shares of the company's stock worth $72,270,000 after acquiring an additional 2,312,024 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in Hormel Foods by 496.3% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,185,600 shares of the company's stock worth $68,562,000 after buying an additional 1,819,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in Hormel Foods by 2.5% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,123,392 shares of the company's stock worth $65,698,000 after buying an additional 52,736 shares during the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on HRL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Hormel Foods from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $34.00 price target (down previously from $36.00) on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Zacks Research lowered Hormel Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Hormel Foods from $35.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.88.

Hormel Foods Trading Down 1.4%

NYSE:HRL traded down $0.34 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $24.74. 4,118,883 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,417,136. Hormel Foods Corporation has a 12-month low of $23.71 and a 12-month high of $33.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.06, a PEG ratio of 5.58 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $28.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.37.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 28th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.06). Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.26% and a return on equity of 10.06%. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.37 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Hormel Foods has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.380-0.400 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 1.430-1.450 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

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.