BTS Asset Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 16,928 Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

BTS Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 16,928 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $531,000. Hormel Foods accounts for about 0.5% of BTS Asset Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRL. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Hormel Foods in the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 516.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 1,132 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the third quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,981 shares of the company's stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 638 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken purchased 4,904 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $32.47 per share, for a total transaction of $159,232.88. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 7,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $230,537. The trade was a 223.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on HRL. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They set an "underperform" rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens started coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.00.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

NYSE:HRL traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $29.93. 2,515,109 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,918,130. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12 month low of $28.51 and a 12 month high of $36.86. The company has a market capitalization of $16.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $31.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.46.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.14 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The company's revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be given a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.88%. This is an increase from Hormel Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. Hormel Foods's payout ratio is currently 77.40%.

Hormel Foods Company 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.