Tang Capital Management LLC Invests $996,000 in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Tang Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 31,741 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $996,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 157,012 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,925,000 after buying an additional 1,812 shares during the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 25,228 shares of the company's stock valued at $791,000 after buying an additional 2,798 shares during the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new position in Hormel Foods in the 4th quarter valued at $143,000. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in Hormel Foods by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 6,072,682 shares of the company's stock valued at $190,500,000 after buying an additional 413,669 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in Hormel Foods by 71.9% in the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 19,177 shares of the company's stock valued at $602,000 after buying an additional 8,021 shares during the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America raised shares of Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Hormel Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hormel Foods currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $32.33.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

NYSE HRL traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $30.15. 3,773,337 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,636,764. The company has a market cap of $16.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.34. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12-month low of $27.59 and a 12-month high of $36.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $29.93 and a 200 day moving average of $30.29. 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 14th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.85%. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 84.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hormel Foods 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 95,488 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,902,835.20. This trade represents a 4.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.