Citigroup Has Lowered Expectations for Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) Stock Price

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) had its target price trimmed by Citigroup from $36.00 to $35.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

HRL has been the topic of a number of other reports. Stephens began coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $28.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $31.29.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Hormel Foods stock traded up $0.35 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $29.75. The stock had a trading volume of 1,809,123 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,591,088. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm's 50 day moving average is $31.12 and its 200 day moving average is $31.81. Hormel Foods has a one year low of $28.51 and a one year high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. Hormel Foods's quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Hormel Foods will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a $0.282 dividend. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio is presently 79.58%.

Insider Activity

In other Hormel Foods news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total transaction of $1,648,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,313,850.95. This trade represents a 41.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total transaction of $312,718.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at $976,094.99. This represents a 24.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HRL. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 47.5% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,981 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 8.8% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 155,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,920,000 after acquiring an additional 12,596 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 11.2% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 54,129 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,715,000 after acquiring an additional 5,459 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 1.7% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,209,962 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,356,000 after acquiring an additional 161,431 shares during the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.