Toth Financial Advisory Corp Has $1.48 Million Holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Toth Financial Advisory Corp grew its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 10.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,297 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,418 shares during the quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $1,484,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,068,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $794,659,000 after acquiring an additional 617,308 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,362,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,646,000 after buying an additional 120,212 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 3,267,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,570,000 after buying an additional 162,577 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,089,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,210,000 after buying an additional 412,313 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 56.0% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,237,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,934,000 after buying an additional 802,816 shares during the period. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Hormel Foods

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken acquired 4,904 shares of the firm’s 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. This represents a 223.32 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on HRL. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Stephens started coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Barclays raised Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hormel Foods presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.17.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

NYSE HRL opened at $30.89 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $31.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.47. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1 year low of $28.51 and a 1 year high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. This is an increase from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.76%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.45%.

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.