National Bank of Canada FI Boosts Stock Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 69.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 151,583 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 62,139 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $4,805,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HRL. State Street Corp increased its stake in Hormel Foods by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,068,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,659,000 after buying an additional 617,308 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 3,267,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,570,000 after acquiring an additional 162,577 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 15.4% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,089,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,210,000 after acquiring an additional 412,313 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 24.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,976,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,738,000 after purchasing an additional 575,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 56.0% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,237,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,934,000 after purchasing an additional 802,816 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total transaction of $312,718.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $976,094.99. The trade was a 24.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total value of $327,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 39,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,276,935. This trade represents a 20.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Shares of HRL stock opened at $33.04 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $31.19 and its 200 day moving average is $31.43. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1-year low of $28.51 and a 1-year 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 market cap of $18.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.63, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.26.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 6.75%. The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be given a $0.29 dividend. This is a boost from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on HRL shares. Citigroup lowered their target price on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.29.

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.