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

Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Hold" by the six brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $32.33.

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

Hormel Foods Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE HRL traded up $0.39 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $30.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,859,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,582,987. The business's 50 day moving average is $29.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.50. Hormel Foods has a 12-month low of $27.59 and a 12-month high of $36.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $16.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.31.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. Hormel Foods's payout ratio is 84.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was 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 owns 95,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,902,835.20. This represents a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRL. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 231.5% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 10,283 shares of the company's stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 7,181 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 1.2% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 130,755 shares of the company's stock worth $4,046,000 after buying an additional 1,597 shares during the last quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods during the first quarter worth $1,075,000. CX Institutional purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods during the first quarter valued at $221,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 428.4% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 184,920 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,721,000 after buying an additional 149,927 shares during the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.