Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Buys 47,839 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,674,310 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 47,839 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.31% of Hormel Foods worth $53,762,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in HRL. PAX Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 2.7% in the third quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC now owns 13,304 shares of the company's stock valued at $506,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 10.3% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,801 shares of the company's stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,069 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the period. Insight Folios Inc lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 7,013 shares of the company's stock valued at $225,000 after buying an additional 429 shares during the period. Finally, Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 7.3% in the third quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,343 shares of the company's stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 433 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HRL has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Hormel Foods from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Hormel Foods from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Hormel Foods from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $31.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.95, for a total transaction of $349,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,708 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,352,844.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 15,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $539,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 68,029 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,381,015. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.95, for a total value of $349,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 38,708 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,352,844.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 40,800 shares of company stock valued at $1,414,872 in the last 90 days. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hormel Foods Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE HRL traded up $0.22 during trading on Friday, hitting $36.31. The stock had a trading volume of 2,842,573 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,891,697. The company has a market capitalization of $19.89 billion, a PE ratio of 24.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.28. The company's 50-day moving average price is $34.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.49. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12 month low of $28.51 and a 12 month high of $41.73.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.91 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.51% and a net margin of 6.55%. The business's quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were given a dividend of $0.2825 per share. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.40%.

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.