Sky Investment Group LLC Purchases New Stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Sky Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 34,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,075,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the 4th quarter valued at $102,598,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 496.3% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 466.5% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,053,160 shares of the company's stock worth $64,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,690,746 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 67.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,926,668 shares of the company's stock valued at $91,810,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175,087 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted 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 valued at $137,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107,270 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In related news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $2,902,835.20. The trade was a 4.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised 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 research note on Tuesday, April 15th. 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 raised shares of Hormel Foods from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded 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. Four equities 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. According to MarketBeat, Hormel Foods presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $32.50.

Hormel Foods Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of HRL stock traded down $0.50 during trading on Friday, reaching $30.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,980,151 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,633,132. Hormel Foods Co. has a one year low of $27.59 and a one year high of $33.80. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $30.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.30. The company has a market cap of $16.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.38 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 14th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 14th. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.29%.

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.