Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Shares Bought by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,846,936 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 66,261 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.34% of Hormel Foods worth $58,548,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of HRL. Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.7% during the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,649 shares of the company's stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 31,499 shares of the company's stock worth $959,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 13,202 shares of the company's stock valued at $419,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 1.2% during the second quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 41,751 shares of the company's stock worth $1,273,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Accredited Investors Inc. boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 4.0% in the second quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 13,925 shares of the company's stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HRL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, October 21st. They set an "underperform" rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Stephens initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $31.29.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In related news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total value of $312,718.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at $976,094.99. This trade represents a 24.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 72,421 shares in the company, valued at $2,313,850.95. The trade was a 41.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

NYSE HRL traded up $0.51 during trading on Friday, reaching $32.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,904,753 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,588,060. The business's fifty day moving average price is $31.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.64. Hormel Foods Co. has a twelve month low of $28.51 and a twelve month high of $36.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 2.29. The firm has a market cap of $17.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.26.

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

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. This is an increase from Hormel Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio is presently 79.58%.

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.