Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Shares Sold by Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH

Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lowered its position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 91.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,202 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,207 shares during the period. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH's holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $38,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRL. Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 8,029 shares of the company's stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 10,038 shares of the company's stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 3,097 shares of the company's stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 44,473 shares of the company's stock worth $1,395,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,312 shares of the company's stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company's stock.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HRL traded down $0.02 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $30.84. The company had a trading volume of 2,883,278 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,629,706. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.96 billion, a PE ratio of 21.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.34. Hormel Foods Co. has a twelve month low of $27.59 and a twelve month high of $33.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $30.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.27.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last released 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. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.92 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 14th. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 85.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HRL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Bank of America raised Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Four research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $32.50.

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 transaction of $136,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 95,488 shares in the company, valued at $2,902,835.20. This represents a 4.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

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.