Pacer Advisors Inc. Has $72.27 Million Position in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL)

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. significantly increased its stake in Hormel Foods by 9,725.4%, acquiring an additional 2,312,024 shares in the first quarter, bringing its total ownership to 2,335,797 shares valued at approximately $72.27 million.
• Wall Street analysts are optimistic about Hormel Foods, with several brokerage firms upgrading their ratings and price targets, suggesting a consensus target price of $32.86 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.29 per share, which translates to an annualized yield of 3.96%, with a current payout ratio of 85.29%.

Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 9,725.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,335,797 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,312,024 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned 0.42% of Hormel Foods worth $72,270,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in HRL. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,571,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods during the 4th quarter worth approximately $260,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 291,595 shares of the company's stock worth $9,147,000 after buying an additional 37,006 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,226,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 303,483 shares of the company's stock worth $9,520,000 after buying an additional 25,177 shares during the period. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE HRL traded up $0.23 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $28.78. The stock had a trading volume of 529,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,103,530. The firm has a market cap of $15.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.33. Hormel Foods Corporation has a twelve month low of $27.59 and a twelve month high of $33.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 2.47. The company's 50 day moving average price is $30.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.90.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35. The firm 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. As a group, 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. Investors of record on Monday, July 14th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.03%. Hormel Foods's payout ratio is presently 85.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on HRL. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. They set 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 lifted their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. 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 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $32.86.

Hormel Foods 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.