Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the six research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $32.33.

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays upgraded Hormel Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hormel Foods

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HRL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,241,219 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,168,257,000 after acquiring an additional 268,328 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,843,207 shares of the company's stock valued at $246,041,000 after buying an additional 533,657 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,461,100 shares of the company's stock worth $233,459,000 after buying an additional 98,442 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 6,072,682 shares of the company's stock valued at $190,500,000 after acquiring an additional 413,669 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,488,678 shares of the company's stock worth $140,810,000 after acquiring an additional 261,742 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hormel Foods Trading Down 0.5 %

HRL opened at $29.23 on Friday. Hormel Foods has a fifty-two week low of $27.59 and a fifty-two week high of $36.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.07 billion, a PE ratio of 20.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The company's 50-day moving average is $29.88 and its 200 day moving average is $30.35.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio is presently 84.67%.

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.

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