Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) Earns Equal Weight Rating from Stephens

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "equal weight" rating restated by equities research analysts at Stephens in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $31.00 price target on the stock. Stephens' target price would indicate a potential upside of 5.40% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays raised Hormel Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.33.

Hormel Foods Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of NYSE:HRL opened at $29.41 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $16.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.15, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.34. Hormel Foods has a 12 month low of $27.59 and a 12 month high of $36.06. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $29.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.40, for a total value of $136,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 95,488 shares in the company, valued at $2,902,835.20. This trade represents a 4.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hormel Foods

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HRL. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the fourth quarter worth $102,598,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 9,725.4% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,335,797 shares of the company's stock valued at $72,270,000 after buying an additional 2,312,024 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 496.3% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,185,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,562,000 after buying an additional 1,819,100 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 466.5% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,053,160 shares of the company's stock worth $64,408,000 after buying an additional 1,690,746 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 485.7% during the first quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,963,632 shares of the company's stock worth $60,755,000 after acquiring an additional 1,628,382 shares during the period. 40.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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