Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) Rating Increased to Overweight at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• Hormel Foods has been upgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a "neutral" to an "overweight" rating, with a new price target of $34.00, indicating a potential upside of nearly 20%.
• BNP Paribas Exane and Goldman Sachs have also made positive adjustments to their ratings, with Goldman Sachs setting a price objective of $35.00 for Hormel Foods.
• The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for its most recent quarter, indicating stable financial performance despite a slight decline year-over-year.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research note released on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has $34.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $29.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on HRL. BNP Paribas raised Hormel Foods from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $33.00.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of HRL stock traded up $0.3150 on Wednesday, reaching $29.2250. 2,258,494 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,290,349. Hormel Foods has a 52 week low of $27.59 and a 52 week high of $33.80. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.07 billion, a PE ratio of 21.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.31. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $29.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.68.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 6.27%.Hormel Foods's quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. Hormel Foods has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.580-1.680 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Hormel Foods will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Revisor Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,342 shares of the company's stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Exeter Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Exeter Financial LLC now owns 16,809 shares of the company's stock worth $520,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. G&S Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. G&S Capital LLC now owns 15,914 shares of the company's stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares in the last quarter. Simmons Bank raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 12,708 shares of the company's stock worth $393,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sovereign Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 17,718 shares of the company's stock worth $548,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by 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.