Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 25,646 Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 25,646 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $805,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HRL. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter worth about $258,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 20,127 shares of the company's stock worth $631,000 after buying an additional 2,074 shares in the last quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 6,738 shares of the company's stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 132,261 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,149,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 56,591 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,775,000 after purchasing an additional 4,749 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. BNP Paribas raised shares of Hormel Foods from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America raised shares of Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the company from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $136,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Shares of HRL stock traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $29.98. 4,248,696 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,662,136. The company has a market capitalization of $16.49 billion, a PE ratio of 20.53, a PEG 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 $34.55. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $29.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 14th. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 84.67%.

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.