Cwm LLC Decreases Holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Cwm LLC decreased its position in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 453,026 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,509 shares during the quarter. Cwm LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $14,547,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Grandfield & Dodd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 762,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,493,000 after purchasing an additional 128,349 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 380,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,212,000 after purchasing an additional 69,745 shares during the last quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods during the fourth quarter valued at $86,000. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in Hormel Foods by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Hormel Foods by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 34,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after buying an additional 4,210 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 15,400 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.18, for a total transaction of $526,372.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 68,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,325,231.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Hormel Foods news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.95, for a total transaction of $349,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,352,844.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 15,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.18, for a total transaction of $526,372.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 68,029 shares in the company, valued at $2,325,231.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 40,800 shares of company stock valued at $1,414,872 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

HRL opened at $34.74 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.03 billion, a PE ratio of 23.79, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.27. Hormel Foods Co. has a twelve month low of $28.51 and a twelve month high of $41.73. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $33.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.91 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.55% and a return on equity of 11.51%. Hormel Foods’s quarterly revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.2825 per share. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.40%.

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.