Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Shares Sold by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,379 shares of the company’s stock after selling 351 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $1,439,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 1.2% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 31,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $959,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the period. Keynote Financial Services LLC increased its position in Hormel Foods by 3.7% during the third quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 13,202 shares of the company’s stock worth $419,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 1.2% during the second quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 41,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,273,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the period. Finally, Accredited Investors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 13,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Hormel Foods stock opened at $29.21 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.02 billion, a PE ratio of 20.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.26. Hormel Foods Co. has a one year low of $28.51 and a one year high of $36.86. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $31.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 2.29.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a $0.282 dividend. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total value of $312,718.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $976,094.99. This represents a 24.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total value of $327,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 39,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,276,935. This trade represents a 20.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338 in the last 90 days. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HRL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BNP Paribas started coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Stephens began coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.57.

Hormel Foods Company 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.