Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $2 Million Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 1.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 63,030 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $1,998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of HRL. Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 3.7% in the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 31,499 shares of the company’s stock worth $959,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 4.8% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 9,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 4.0% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 11,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 13,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on HRL. Stephens assumed coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.29.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of HRL opened at $31.68 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.70, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.26. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12 month low of $28.51 and a 12 month high of $36.86. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.42. 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 (NYSE:HRL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 6.75%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 13th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. This is a boost from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In related news, VP Steven J. Lykken purchased 4,904 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 7,100 shares in the company, valued at $230,537. The trade was a 223.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.