Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Has $449,000 Holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. trimmed its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 49.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,303 shares of the company's stock after selling 14,146 shares during the quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $449,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of HRL. State Street Corp lifted its position in Hormel Foods by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,068,102 shares of the company's stock worth $794,659,000 after buying an additional 617,308 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Hormel Foods by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,362,658 shares of the company's stock worth $232,646,000 after purchasing an additional 120,212 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 3,267,186 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,570,000 after buying an additional 162,577 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 56.0% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,237,674 shares of the company's stock worth $70,934,000 after buying an additional 802,816 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 3.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,846,936 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,548,000 after acquiring an additional 66,261 shares during the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on HRL shares. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays upgraded Hormel Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They set an "underperform" rating and a $28.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $31.17.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of HRL traded down $0.45 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $28.55. 2,661,197 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,813,711. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1-year low of $28.51 and a 1-year high of $36.86. The stock has a market cap of $15.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.26. The stock's fifty day moving average is $30.99 and its 200 day moving average is $31.34. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.66 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Monday, January 13th will be given a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 13th. This is a positive change from Hormel Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio is 79.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken purchased 4,904 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 7,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $230,537. This trade represents a 223.32 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Hormel Foods 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.