QV Investors Inc. Has $7.44 Million Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

QV Investors Inc. lessened its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 8.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 240,450 shares of the company's stock after selling 23,060 shares during the quarter. QV Investors Inc.'s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $7,440,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 9,905 shares of the company's stock valued at $311,000 after buying an additional 934 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 626,360 shares of the company's stock worth $19,649,000 after purchasing an additional 20,514 shares during 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 purchasing an additional 116,304 shares during 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 purchasing an additional 1,107,270 shares during 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 purchasing an additional 9,120 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company's stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

NYSE HRL traded up $0.13 on Thursday, hitting $30.83. 1,123,612 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,622,876. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The business's fifty day moving average is $30.02 and its 200 day moving average is $30.27. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52 week low of $27.59 and a 52 week high of $33.80. The company has a market capitalization of $16.95 billion, a PE ratio of 21.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.34.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.35. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.38 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 14th will be given a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 14th. Hormel Foods's payout ratio is presently 85.29%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.40, for a total value of $136,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 95,488 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,902,835.20. This represents a 4.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on HRL. Bank of America upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $32.50.

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.