Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. Lowers Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,311 shares of the company's stock after selling 24,733 shares during the period. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $866,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,421 shares in the company, valued at $2,313,850.95. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total transaction of $312,718.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $976,094.99. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 owns 72,421 shares in the company, valued at $2,313,850.95. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 71,400 shares of company stock valued at $2,288,338 over the last ninety days. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HRL traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $31.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,173,836 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,072,360. Hormel Foods Co. has a one year low of $28.51 and a one year high of $36.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $31.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.39. 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 has a market capitalization of $17.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.25.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid 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 3.63%. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 79.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, October 21st. They set an "underperform" rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. 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 on the stock. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Hormel Foods from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $31.57.

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.