Hormel Foods Corporation $HRL Shares Sold by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Key Points

• Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. reduced its stake in Hormel Foods Corporation by 3.5%, resulting in ownership of approximately 0.06% of the company, valued at about $9,982,000.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed opinions on Hormel Foods, with ratings ranging from "buy" to "strong sell", and a current consensus rating of "Hold" with an average price target of $30.88.
• Hormel Foods reported earnings of $0.35 EPS, missing expectations, but recording a 4.6% year-over-year revenue growth with guidance of $1.430-$1.450 EPS for FY 2025.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 3.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 322,615 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,798 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. owned approximately 0.06% of Hormel Foods worth $9,982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRL. Comerica Bank lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 54,129 shares of the company's stock worth $1,698,000 after purchasing an additional 2,226 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 249,724 shares of the company's stock worth $7,834,000 after purchasing an additional 10,507 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 28.4% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,545,455 shares of the company's stock worth $48,481,000 after purchasing an additional 342,225 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 102,664 shares of the company's stock worth $3,221,000 after acquiring an additional 8,676 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 132.4% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 17,345 shares of the company's stock worth $545,000 after acquiring an additional 9,883 shares during the period. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HRL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $34.00 price objective (down previously from $36.00) on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Friday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Hormel Foods from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Zacks Research cut Hormel Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Hormel Foods from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.88.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

HRL traded down $0.34 during trading on Friday, reaching $25.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,391,525 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,675,733. Hormel Foods Corporation has a 52-week low of $23.71 and a 52-week high of $33.80. The company's fifty day moving average price is $28.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.38. The company has a market capitalization of $13.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 2.47.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 28th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.37 EPS. Hormel Foods's revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, equities analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.