Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 23,033 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 293,826 shares of the company's stock after selling 23,033 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned 0.05% of Hormel Foods worth $9,217,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 4.4% in 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 last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 52,457 shares during the last quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC boosted 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 valued at $29,302,000 after acquiring an additional 26,390 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Hormel Foods by 3.7% during 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 period. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods during the third quarter worth about $1,025,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Steven J. Lykken bought 4,904 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were bought 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 in the company, valued at $230,537. The trade was a 223.32 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

HRL traded down $0.43 on Friday, hitting $30.00. 11,599,565 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,799,530. Hormel Foods Co. has a twelve month low of $28.51 and a twelve month high of $36.86. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $31.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.47. The firm has a market cap of $16.47 billion, a PE ratio of 20.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.26.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The firm's revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. On average, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This is a positive change 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on HRL. Barclays raised shares of Hormel Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. BNP Paribas started coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Stephens assumed coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.17.

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.