Stiles Financial Services Inc Reduces Holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Stiles Financial Services Inc lessened its holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 15,236 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,129 shares during the quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $478,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Hormel Foods during the third quarter worth $32,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Hormel Foods during the third quarter worth $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 516.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the third quarter valued at $47,000. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HRL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.17.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE HRL opened at $29.23 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $16.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The company has a 50-day moving average of $31.11 and a 200-day moving average of $31.38.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). The company 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, January 13th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. This is a boost from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken acquired 4,904 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $230,537. This trade represents a 223.32 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.