Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 23.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 129,158 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 24,510 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $4,052,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HRL. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 9,905 shares of the company's stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 934 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 626,360 shares of the company's stock worth $19,649,000 after buying an additional 20,514 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 58.9% in the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 313,619 shares of the company's stock worth $9,838,000 after buying an additional 116,304 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position 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 buying an additional 1,107,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DnB Asset Management AS lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 71,010 shares of the company's stock worth $2,228,000 after acquiring an additional 9,120 shares during the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hormel Foods Trading Down 0.1%

HRL traded down $0.02 on Thursday, hitting $30.68. 2,837,942 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,629,446. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $27.59 and a 12 month high of $33.80. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.87 billion, a PE ratio of 21.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.34.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.35. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 6.75%. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. The business's revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

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 given 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 dividend yield of 3.78%. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio is presently 85.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hormel Foods news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.40, for a total transaction of $136,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HRL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. 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 research note on Tuesday, May 27th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report 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. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the company from $29.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hormel Foods presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.50.

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.