Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its position in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 75.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 157,729 shares of the company's stock after selling 492,100 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund's holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $4,880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in HRL. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 12.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Aviva PLC boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 58.9% during the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 313,619 shares of the company's stock worth $9,838,000 after buying an additional 116,304 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 33.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 180.4% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 89,025 shares of the company's stock worth $2,737,000 after buying an additional 57,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DnB Asset Management AS boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 71,010 shares of the company's stock worth $2,228,000 after buying an additional 9,120 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HRL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BNP Paribas raised shares of Hormel Foods from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. 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 report on Tuesday, May 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, June 23rd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the company from $29.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Four investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.86.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of HRL stock traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $29.28. The stock had a trading volume of 809,415 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,120,599. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Hormel Foods Corporation has a twelve month low of $27.59 and a twelve month high of $33.80. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.10 billion, a PE ratio of 21.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.33.

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

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 14th will be paid 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 3.96%. Hormel Foods's payout ratio is 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.