Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Shares Sold by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC trimmed its holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 316,859 shares of the company's stock after selling 16,944 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned about 0.06% of Hormel Foods worth $10,044,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HRL. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 86.4% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,602,732 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,867,000 after buying an additional 742,859 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,976,257 shares of the company's stock valued at $90,738,000 after purchasing an additional 575,378 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,638,546 shares of the company's stock valued at $196,729,000 after purchasing an additional 505,942 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 59.1% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,244,448 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,470,000 after purchasing an additional 462,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,089,868 shares of the company's stock valued at $94,210,000 after purchasing an additional 412,313 shares during the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HRL traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $30.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 834,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,586,243. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.31, a PEG ratio of 3.24 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 50 day moving average price of $31.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.17.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The company's revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.282 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. Hormel Foods's payout ratio is 79.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on HRL. Citigroup raised shares of Hormel Foods from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $33.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $31.00 price target for the company. Finally, 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 objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $31.57.

Insider Activity at Hormel Foods

In other news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total value of $1,648,620.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,421 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,313,850.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the company'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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 72,421 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,313,850.95. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total transaction of $312,718.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 30,589 shares of the company's stock, valued at $976,094.99. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338 over the last three months. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.