LPL Financial LLC Cuts Holdings in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL)

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC reduced its stake in Hormel Foods Corporation by 5.0%, selling 15,299 shares and holding a total of 288,184 shares valued at approximately $8.9 million.
• Hormel Foods announced a quarterly dividend of $0.29 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 4.1%, with the ex-dividend date set for July 14th.
• Recent earnings reports showed Hormel Foods meeting consensus estimates with $0.35 earnings per share, while revenue for the quarter was slightly below expectations at $2.90 billion.

LPL Financial LLC reduced its stake in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 5.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 288,184 shares of the company's stock after selling 15,299 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Hormel Foods worth $8,916,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Hormel Foods in the first quarter worth $1,283,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Hormel Foods by 12.0% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 452,925 shares of the company's stock worth $14,014,000 after buying an additional 48,657 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in Hormel Foods by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,374,456 shares of the company's stock worth $137,227,000 after buying an additional 1,107,270 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 180.4% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 89,025 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,737,000 after purchasing an additional 57,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter valued at $548,000. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HRL traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $28.76. 3,181,161 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,878,438. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $29.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.14, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.31. 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 one year low of $27.59 and a one year high of $33.80.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 6.27%. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. The company's revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 14th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 14th. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio is presently 85.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HRL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane raised Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, June 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America upgraded Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Hormel Foods from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.86.

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.