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

Key Points

• Stephens reaffirmed its “equal weight” rating on Hormel Foods and set a $25 price target, implying only modest upside from the current share price.
• Recent analyst sentiment on Hormel is mixed: the stock’s consensus rating is “Hold”, with an average target price of $26 and several firms maintaining neutral or sell views.
• Hormel recently beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.40 EPS versus the $0.35 estimate, while revenue came in slightly above forecasts and rose 2.6% year over year.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "equal weight" rating reissued by stock analysts at Stephens in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $25.00 price target on the stock. Stephens' price objective indicates a potential upside of 2.95% from the stock's current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Bank of America increased their price objective on Hormel Foods from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $25.00 price objective on Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $23.00 target price (down from $28.00) on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $26.00.

Hormel Foods Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE HRL opened at $24.28 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market cap of $13.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.34. Hormel Foods has a 52 week low of $19.70 and a 52 week high of $31.86. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.23.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hormel Foods

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Hormel Foods by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,005 shares of the company's stock worth $968,000 after buying an additional 427 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 83,015 shares of the company's stock worth $2,060,000 after acquiring an additional 3,611 shares during the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 17.7% in the 2nd quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 19,637 shares of the company's stock valued at $487,000 after purchasing an additional 2,953 shares in the last quarter. DMKC Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the 2nd quarter valued at $378,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Hormel Foods by 12.7% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,297 shares of the company's stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 933 shares during the period. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Hormel Foods

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.