Stephens Reaffirms "Equal Weight" Rating for Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL)

Stephens reiterated their equal weight rating on shares of Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $31.00 target price on the stock.

HRL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. BNP Paribas started coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, October 21st. They set an "underperform" rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays raised Hormel Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two research 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.17.

Hormel Foods Stock Up 2.8 %

NYSE HRL traded up $0.81 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $29.66. 2,828,389 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,834,011. Hormel Foods has a 1-year low of $28.03 and a 1-year high of $36.86. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.17. 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 company has a market cap of $16.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.26.

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). 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Hormel Foods will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, January 13th were issued a $0.29 dividend. This is an increase from Hormel Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 13th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.91%. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Steven J. Lykken bought 4,904 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 7,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $230,537. The trade was a 223.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Hormel Foods

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Hormel Foods during the 4th quarter valued at $102,598,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 496.3% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,185,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,562,000 after acquiring an additional 1,819,100 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 466.5% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,053,160 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,690,746 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 67.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,926,668 shares of the company's stock valued at $91,810,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175,087 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,374,456 shares of the company's stock valued at $137,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107,270 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company's stock.

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.