Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Hormel Foods has a consensus analyst rating of "Hold", based on eight research firms: one sell, five hold, and two buy ratings. The average 12-month price target is $26.00.
• The company recently reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $0.40 per share, topping estimates by $0.05, while revenue of $2.97 billion also slightly exceeded forecasts. Quarterly revenue rose 2.6% year over year.
• Hormel announced a quarterly dividend of $0.2925 per share, payable on August 17, implying an annualized dividend of $1.17 and a yield of 4.8%. However, the payout ratio is high at 137.65%.

Shares of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the eight research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $26.00.

HRL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $23.00 target price (down from $28.00) on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $25.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, May 21st.

Institutional Trading of Hormel Foods

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of HRL. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 66.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,331,941 shares of the company's stock worth $280,352,000 after purchasing an additional 4,526,167 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Hormel Foods during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $85,840,000. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Hormel Foods in the 1st quarter worth approximately $44,733,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in Hormel Foods in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,340,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 126.2% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 3,174,553 shares of the company's stock worth $78,538,000 after buying an additional 1,770,852 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company's stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of HRL opened at $24.54 on Thursday. Hormel Foods has a 52-week low of $19.70 and a 52-week high of $31.86. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $22.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.34.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.05. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 9.74% and a net margin of 3.82%.The business had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Hormel Foods will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 13th will be paid a $0.2925 dividend. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 13th. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 137.65%.

Hormel Foods Company Profile

Hormel Foods Corporation is a global branded foods company primarily engaged in the production, marketing and distribution of value-added, high-quality meat and food products. The company's portfolio spans a range of categories including refrigerated and frozen meats, pantry staples, specialty foods and shelf-stable items. Through manufacturing facilities located across North America and international markets, Hormel Foods supplies retail grocers, foodservice operators, convenience stores and e-commerce platforms.

Among its best-known brands, Hormel Foods produces SPAM® canned meats, Jennie-O® turkey products, Skippy® peanut butter and Applegate® natural and organic meats.

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