New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 47,000 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 649,829 shares of the company’s stock after selling 47,000 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.12% of Hormel Foods worth $20,385,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Hormel Foods during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Hormel Foods during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 47.5% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

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 owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on HRL shares. Citigroup reduced their price target on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hormel Foods presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.17.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

HRL opened at $29.66 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $16.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.31, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.26. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12-month low of $28.03 and a 12-month high of $36.86. The business has a 50 day moving average of $30.31 and a 200-day moving average of $31.15.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 13th were issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 13th. This is a boost from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is currently 79.45%.

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.