Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,790,000 shares, a growth of 6.8% from the December 31st total of 11,040,000 shares. Currently, 4.1% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 2,320,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.1 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

NYSE:HRL traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $29.23. The company had a trading volume of 3,771,889 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,836,618. The firm has a market cap 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 company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $31.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.39. Hormel Foods has a 52 week low of $28.51 and a 52 week high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 6.75%. The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. The business's revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Hormel Foods will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, January 13th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. This is an increase from Hormel Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Steven J. Lykken purchased 4,904 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,100 shares in the company, valued at $230,537. This trade represents a 223.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Hormel Foods

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 818,417 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,944,000 after acquiring an additional 34,589 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in Hormel Foods by 13.1% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 452,510 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,345,000 after purchasing an additional 52,457 shares in the last quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 2.9% during the third quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 924,365 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,302,000 after purchasing an additional 26,390 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position 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 worth $58,548,000 after buying an additional 66,261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Hormel Foods in the third quarter worth about $1,025,000. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.