Cerity Partners LLC Boosts Stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 80.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 69,390 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 30,879 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $2,200,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Hormel Foods by 688.3% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 741 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Central Valley Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Hormel Foods during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 516.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In other Hormel Foods news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total value of $1,648,620.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,421 shares in the company, valued at $2,313,850.95. This trade represents a 41.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 24.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 71,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,288,338 over the last quarter. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HRL traded down $0.28 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $32.15. The stock had a trading volume of 3,020,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,589,920. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 2.29. Hormel Foods Co. has a twelve month low of $28.51 and a twelve month high of $36.86. The firm has a market cap of $17.63 billion, a PE ratio of 22.64, a PEG ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a 50 day moving average of $31.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.58.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.40 EPS. The business's revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. This is a boost from Hormel Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 81.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.