Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Has $1.74 Million Stock Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 54,928 shares of the company's stock after selling 28,691 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC's holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $1,741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRL. Sigma Planning Corp boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 15,804 shares of the company's stock valued at $501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,449 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 41.5% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,843 shares of the company's stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 834 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in Hormel Foods during the third quarter valued at about $298,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Keynote Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 13,202 shares of the company's stock worth $419,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Citigroup upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hormel Foods has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.57.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Shares of HRL traded up $0.02 on Thursday, hitting $30.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,596,894 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,586,258. The company has a market capitalization of $16.68 billion, a PE ratio of 21.42, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.26. Hormel Foods Co. has a fifty-two week low of $28.51 and a fifty-two week high of $36.86. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $31.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

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

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $2,313,850.95. This trade represents a 41.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total value of $312,718.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 30,589 shares of the company's stock, valued at $976,094.99. This represents a 24.26 % 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 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.69% of the company's stock.

About Hormel Foods

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.