Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Hold" by the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation, one has issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $31.17.

A number of analysts have recently commented on HRL shares. Citigroup cut their price objective 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. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, October 21st. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Hormel Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In related news, VP Steven J. Lykken bought 4,904 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $32.47 per share, for a total transaction of $159,232.88. Following the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 7,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $230,537. This trade represents a 223.32 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hormel Foods

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 81,659 shares of the company's stock worth $2,562,000 after acquiring an additional 4,299 shares during the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 53,269 shares of the company's stock worth $1,671,000 after purchasing an additional 2,510 shares during the period. Amundi raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,406,527 shares of the company's stock worth $42,815,000 after purchasing an additional 198,931 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 67,830 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,128,000 after purchasing an additional 4,190 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company's stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of Hormel Foods stock traded up $0.05 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $29.23. 3,772,257 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,859,038. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.02, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.26. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.39. Hormel Foods has a 52-week low of $28.51 and a 52-week high of $36.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 2.32.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last posted 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). Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. Hormel Foods's revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Hormel Foods will post 1.66 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.29 dividend. 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 3.97%. This is a positive change from Hormel Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.45%.

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.