Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) Receives $32.86 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seven research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $32.86.

HRL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BNP Paribas raised shares of Hormel Foods from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, June 23rd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America raised shares of Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th.

Hormel Foods Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of HRL stock traded up $0.11 during trading on Friday, reaching $30.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,039,573 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,680,073. Hormel Foods has a one year low of $27.59 and a one year high of $33.80. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $30.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.09. The company has a market cap of $16.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 6.27%. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 earnings per share. Hormel Foods's quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 14th will be given 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 yield of 3.77%. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 85.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HRL. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Hormel Foods during the 4th quarter worth $285,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 67.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,926,668 shares of the company's stock worth $91,810,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175,087 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Hormel Foods during the fourth quarter valued at $1,330,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 74,981 shares of the company's stock worth $2,352,000 after acquiring an additional 19,246 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 20,514 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% 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.