Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, one has assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $32.33.

HRL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays raised shares of Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Hormel Foods from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.40, for a total value of $136,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 95,488 shares in the company, valued at $2,902,835.20. The trade was a 4.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hormel Foods

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRL. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 9,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after acquiring an additional 934 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Hormel Foods by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 626,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,649,000 after buying an additional 20,514 shares during the period. Aviva PLC raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 58.9% during the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 313,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,838,000 after purchasing an additional 116,304 shares during the last quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 862,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,051,000 after purchasing an additional 26,121 shares during the period. Finally, DnB Asset Management AS increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 71,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,228,000 after purchasing an additional 9,120 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Hormel Foods stock traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $30.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 209,494 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,140,493. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 2.32. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.53. Hormel Foods has a fifty-two week low of $27.59 and a fifty-two week high of $36.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.83 billion, a PE ratio of 20.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.31.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is 84.67%.

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.