Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $7.89 Million in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 251,547 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,891,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 86.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,484 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 690 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 91.8% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HRL has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the company from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.33.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Hormel Foods stock traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $29.51. 2,257,248 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,586,325. The company has a market cap of $16.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Hormel Foods Co. has a twelve month low of $27.59 and a twelve month high of $36.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $29.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.46.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. Hormel Foods's payout ratio is 84.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were 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 owns 95,488 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,902,835.20. This represents a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Hormel Foods Profile

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.