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

Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Hold" by the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation, one has assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $32.33.

Several analysts recently issued reports on HRL shares. Barclays upgraded Hormel Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Bank of America raised Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $29.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In other news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 95,488 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,902,835.20. This represents a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HRL. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Hormel Foods during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 86.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,484 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 690 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 91.8% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the company's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company's stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

HRL traded up $0.39 on Tuesday, reaching $30.57. The company had a trading volume of 2,859,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,582,094. The stock has a market cap of $16.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.31. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $27.59 and a fifty-two week high of $36.86. The company's fifty day moving average is $29.61 and its 200 day moving average is $30.51.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio is presently 84.67%.

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.