Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Purchases 8,401 Shares of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 14.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,992 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,401 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $2,011,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Financial Counselors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 4.0% in the first quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 385,397 shares of the company's stock worth $11,924,000 after acquiring an additional 14,669 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 18.5% during the first quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 3,081 shares of the company's stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Simmons Bank boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 3.7% during the first quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 12,708 shares of the company's stock worth $393,000 after buying an additional 448 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods during the first quarter worth $441,000. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 11.8% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 60,616 shares of the company's stock worth $1,922,000 after buying an additional 6,402 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on HRL shares. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded 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 note on Tuesday, May 27th. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $32.86.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

NYSE HRL traded down $0.95 on Friday, hitting $30.59. 5,155,536 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,720,263. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $30.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.06. The company has a market cap of $16.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Hormel Foods Corporation has a 1-year low of $27.59 and a 1-year high of $33.80.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.35. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.27% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 14th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.79%. 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.