17,454 Shares in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Bought by Woodline Partners LP

Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 17,454 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $548,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the 4th quarter worth approximately $586,000. WBI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the 4th quarter valued at $2,659,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 496.3% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,185,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,562,000 after purchasing an additional 1,819,100 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 466.5% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,053,160 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,690,746 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 29,642 shares of the company's stock valued at $930,000 after acquiring an additional 785 shares during the period. 40.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HRL traded up $0.27 during trading on Friday, reaching $30.65. The company had a trading volume of 4,464,430 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,625,317. The firm's fifty day moving average is $29.97 and its 200 day moving average is $30.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.85 billion, a PE ratio of 20.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.34. Hormel Foods Co. has a twelve month low of $27.59 and a twelve month high of $33.80. 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 (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.78%. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 84.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HRL has been the topic of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. BNP Paribas raised shares of Hormel Foods from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $31.00 price target 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 boosted their target price for the company from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Five research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.00.

Insider Activity

In other Hormel Foods news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of the company'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 represents a 4.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hormel Foods Company 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.