abrdn plc Has $12.12 Million Holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

abrdn plc reduced its position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 390,541 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,052 shares during the period. abrdn plc owned about 0.07% of Hormel Foods worth $12,120,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Greenleaf Trust lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 8,029 shares of the company's stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,649 shares of the company's stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the period. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,445 shares of the company's stock valued at $422,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 6,738 shares of the company's stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares during the period. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 9,108 shares of the company's stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the period. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken bought 4,904 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 7,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $230,537. This represents a 223.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HRL traded up $0.12 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $28.99. 2,422,948 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,819,379. 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 company has a market cap of $15.91 billion, a PE ratio of 19.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.26. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $31.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.36. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1-year low of $28.51 and a 1-year high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last issued 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). Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The company had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, January 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 13th. This is an increase from Hormel Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HRL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, October 21st. They set an "underperform" rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Hormel Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.17.

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.