Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Shares Sold by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can reduced its stake in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 22.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 748,043 shares of the company's stock after selling 220,253 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.14% of Hormel Foods worth $23,466,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 9,905 shares of the company's stock valued at $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 stake in Hormel Foods by 58.9% in the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 313,619 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,838,000 after acquiring an additional 116,304 shares during the last quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 862,308 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,051,000 after purchasing an additional 26,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DnB Asset Management AS boosted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 71,010 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,228,000 after purchasing an additional 9,120 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HRL. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays raised Hormel Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $32.33.

Hormel Foods Stock Up 1.5 %

HRL traded up $0.44 on Thursday, hitting $30.62. The company had a trading volume of 533,973 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,569,373. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 2.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.31. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12-month low of $27.59 and a 12-month high of $36.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $29.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.52.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Hormel Foods

In other Hormel Foods news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the director now owns 95,488 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,902,835.20. The trade was a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

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.