Wealthfront Advisers LLC Decreases Position in Hormel Foods Corporation $HRL

Key Points

• Wealthfront Advisers LLC cut its Hormel Foods stake by 91.1% in the first quarter, leaving it with 61,097 shares worth about $1.38 million.
• Hormel recently beat quarterly earnings estimates, reporting $0.40 EPS versus $0.35 expected, while revenue came in slightly above forecasts at $2.97 billion.
• Analysts remain cautious on HRL: the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.14, even as the company’s new quarterly dividend implies a 4.7% yield.

Wealthfront Advisers LLC decreased its holdings in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 91.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,097 shares of the company's stock after selling 628,544 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC's holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $1,384,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 66.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,331,941 shares of the company's stock valued at $280,352,000 after purchasing an additional 4,526,167 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Hormel Foods during the 4th quarter worth about $85,840,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in Hormel Foods during the 4th quarter worth about $43,340,000. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its position in Hormel Foods by 126.2% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 3,174,553 shares of the company's stock valued at $78,538,000 after purchasing an additional 1,770,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 189.7% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,414,341 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,220,000 after buying an additional 1,581,046 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on HRL shares. BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Hormel Foods from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $26.14.

Hormel Foods Stock Down 0.8%

HRL stock opened at $25.08 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Hormel Foods Corporation has a twelve month low of $19.70 and a twelve month high of $29.78. The company's 50 day moving average is $23.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.29. The stock has a market cap of $13.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.50, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.34.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 3.82% and a return on equity of 9.74%. The company's revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. Research analysts expect that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, July 13th will be given a $0.2925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 13th. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. Hormel Foods's payout ratio is 137.65%.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In other Hormel Foods news, Director Gary C. Bhojwani sold 20,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total value of $495,102.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 32,002 shares in the company, valued at $784,369.02. This represents a 38.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Hormel Foods

Hormel Foods Corporation is a global branded foods company primarily engaged in the production, marketing and distribution of value-added, high-quality meat and food products. The company's portfolio spans a range of categories including refrigerated and frozen meats, pantry staples, specialty foods and shelf-stable items. Through manufacturing facilities located across North America and international markets, Hormel Foods supplies retail grocers, foodservice operators, convenience stores and e-commerce platforms.

Among its best-known brands, Hormel Foods produces SPAM® canned meats, Jennie-O® turkey products, Skippy® peanut butter and Applegate® natural and organic meats.

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