D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Grows Stock Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 24.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,883,924 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 368,028 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned 0.34% of Hormel Foods worth $59,099,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Hormel Foods during the 4th quarter valued at about $102,598,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 67.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,926,668 shares of the company's stock valued at $91,810,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175,087 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,374,456 shares of the company's stock valued at $137,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107,270 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,751,307 shares of the company's stock valued at $117,674,000 after purchasing an additional 634,630 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,843,207 shares of the company's stock valued at $246,041,000 after purchasing an additional 533,657 shares during the period. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HRL. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays raised Hormel Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Bank of America raised Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $32.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hormel Foods news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,902,835.20. This represents a 4.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Hormel Foods stock traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $29.56. 2,999,298 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,612,943. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.26 billion, a PE ratio of 20.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.34. Hormel Foods Co. has a fifty-two week low of $27.59 and a fifty-two week high of $36.86. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.33. 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 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.92%. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 84.67%.

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.