Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) Holdings Decreased by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its position in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 3.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 36,060,452 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,180,767 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 6.56% of Hormel Foods worth $1,115,710,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Exeter Financial LLC increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Exeter Financial LLC now owns 16,809 shares of the company's stock worth $520,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Simmons Bank grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 12,708 shares of the company's stock valued at $393,000 after buying an additional 448 shares in the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.7% in the first quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 17,718 shares of the company's stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. G&S Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.1% in the first quarter. G&S Capital LLC now owns 15,516 shares of the company's stock valued at $480,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,312 shares of the company's stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on HRL shares. BNP Paribas raised shares of Hormel Foods from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, June 23rd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Hormel Foods presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $32.86.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 0.7%

HRL traded up $0.22 on Wednesday, hitting $28.98. The company had a trading volume of 2,638,046 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,110,447. The firm has a market cap of $15.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.31, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.31. Hormel Foods Corporation has a 1 year low of $27.59 and a 1 year high of $33.80. The company's fifty day moving average price is $29.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.76. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.27% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 14th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 14th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Hormel Foods's payout ratio is 85.29%.

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.