Bridgewater Associates LP Trims Holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Bridgewater Associates LP trimmed its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 30.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,414 shares of the company's stock after selling 22,888 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP's holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $1,644,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of HRL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,241,219 shares of the company's stock worth $1,168,257,000 after purchasing an additional 268,328 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,843,207 shares of the company's stock worth $246,041,000 after acquiring an additional 533,657 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,461,100 shares of the company's stock worth $233,459,000 after acquiring an additional 98,442 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the 4th quarter worth $102,598,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 67.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,926,668 shares of the company's stock worth $91,810,000 after acquiring an additional 1,175,087 shares during the period. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.40, for a total transaction of $136,800.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 95,488 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,902,835.20. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hormel Foods Trading Down 1.8 %

HRL stock traded down $0.57 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $30.25. The company had a trading volume of 357,471 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,575,918. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52 week low of $27.59 and a 52 week high of $36.86. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $29.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.49. The stock has a market cap of $16.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.72, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.31.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.84%. Hormel Foods's payout ratio is 84.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HRL. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays upgraded 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 raised their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.33.

About Hormel Foods

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.