USS Investment Management Ltd Lowers Stock Holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

USS Investment Management Ltd decreased its holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 28.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 134,298 shares of the company's stock after selling 52,844 shares during the quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $4,214,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRL. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 86.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,484 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 690 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 91.8% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the company's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 729 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HRL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of 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 report on Tuesday, April 15th. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hormel Foods currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $32.00.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

NYSE HRL traded up $0.78 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $30.22. The company had a trading volume of 2,521,781 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,021,604. The business has a 50 day moving average of $29.90 and a 200-day moving average of $30.26. The company has a market cap of $16.62 billion, a PE ratio of 20.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.34. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1-year low of $27.59 and a 1-year high of $35.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 2.32.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.84%. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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. This trade represents a 4.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.