Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $20.78 Million Position in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL)

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. reduced its stake in Hormel Foods by 2.4% in Q1, now holding 671,655 shares valued at approximately $20.78 million.
• Hormel Foods announced a quarterly dividend of $0.29 per share with a yield of 4.1%, set to be paid on August 15th.
• The company reported Q1 earnings per share of $0.35, matching analyst expectations, with a revenue of $2.90 billion, slightly below forecasts of $2.92 billion.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. decreased its position in shares of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 2.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 671,655 shares of the company's stock after selling 16,460 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.12% of Hormel Foods worth $20,781,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HRL. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Hormel Foods by 9,725.4% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in Hormel Foods by 496.3% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,185,600 shares of the company's stock worth $68,562,000 after acquiring an additional 1,819,100 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in Hormel Foods by 466.5% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,053,160 shares of the company's stock worth $64,408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,690,746 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,374,456 shares of the company's stock worth $137,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107,270 shares during the period. Finally, Man Group plc increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 186.0% during the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 1,041,356 shares of the company's stock worth $32,667,000 after purchasing an additional 677,194 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on HRL. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, June 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.86.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

NYSE HRL traded up $0.09 on Friday, reaching $28.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 906,421 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,096,169. The firm has a market cap of $15.61 billion, a PE ratio of 20.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.31. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $29.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.74. Hormel Foods Corporation has a 52 week low of $27.59 and a 52 week high of $33.80. 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 (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 6.27%. The business's revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 14th. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.