J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Takes $1.28 Million Position in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 41,454 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,283,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of HRL. Exeter Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.3% during the first 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 period. Simmons Bank lifted its position in Hormel Foods by 3.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. increased 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 worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. G&S Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. G&S Capital LLC now owns 15,516 shares of the company's stock valued at $480,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted 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 valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HRL has been the topic of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. BNP Paribas raised Hormel Foods from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Bank of America upgraded Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $32.86.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of HRL stock traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $29.32. 2,032,008 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,275,426. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.56, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 2.47. Hormel Foods Corporation has a 52 week low of $27.59 and a 52 week high of $33.80. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $30.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.93.

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

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors 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 yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 14th. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio is 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.