8,700 Shares in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Bought by West Tower Group LLC

West Tower Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 8,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $276,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HRL. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 86.4% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,602,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,867,000 after purchasing an additional 742,859 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Hormel Foods by 24.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,976,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,738,000 after buying an additional 575,378 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Hormel Foods by 59.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,244,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,470,000 after buying an additional 462,283 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in 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 buying an additional 412,313 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Hormel Foods by 328.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 514,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,297,000 after buying an additional 394,068 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE HRL opened at $31.44 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.69. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52-week low of $28.51 and a 52-week high of $36.86. The firm has a market cap of $17.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 11.03%. Hormel Foods’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 EPS 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. Investors of record on Monday, January 13th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.69%. This is a boost from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is 79.58%.

Insider Activity at Hormel Foods

In other news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total value of $1,648,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 72,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,313,850.95. This represents a 41.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total transaction of $327,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 39,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,276,935. This represents a 20.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.