Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 479,123 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 93.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 34,993 shares of the company's stock after selling 479,123 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $1,098,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of HRL. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 worth $25,944,000 after buying an additional 34,589 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 13.1% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 452,510 shares of the company's stock worth $14,345,000 after acquiring an additional 52,457 shares in the last quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 2.9% in the third quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 924,365 shares of the company's stock worth $29,302,000 after purchasing an additional 26,390 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 66,261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the third quarter valued at about $1,025,000. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on HRL shares. Citigroup decreased their target price 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. Stephens began coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.17.

Insider Activity at Hormel Foods

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken acquired 4,904 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $32.47 per share, for a total transaction of $159,232.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $230,537. The trade was a 223.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hormel Foods Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE HRL traded up $0.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $30.89. The stock had a trading volume of 1,518,550 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,913,106. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The company has a market capitalization of $16.96 billion, a PE ratio of 21.15, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.26. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12 month low of $28.51 and a 12 month high of $36.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $31.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.47.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 6.75%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. This is a positive change from Hormel Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 13th. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.45%.

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.