Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Decreases Holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lessened its stake in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 245,553 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,578 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $7,703,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Greenleaf Trust increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 8,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 3.7% during 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. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 6,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the period. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HRL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup cut their target price 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. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.80.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

HRL stock opened at $29.92 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $29.76 and a 200-day moving average of $30.94. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $27.59 and a 12 month high of $36.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.21.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.