Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $16.30 Million Stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 328.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 514,116 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 394,068 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.09% of Hormel Foods worth $16,297,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRL. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Hormel Foods by 21.8% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 571,252 shares of the company's stock worth $19,931,000 after purchasing an additional 102,141 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 26.2% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 735,246 shares of the company's stock worth $22,418,000 after buying an additional 152,800 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in Hormel Foods in the 1st quarter worth approximately $756,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in Hormel Foods by 12.5% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 360,504 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,578,000 after acquiring an additional 40,130 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 774.8% during the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,216 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 1,077 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on HRL. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Citigroup upgraded 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. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $31.57.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

HRL stock traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $31.06. 1,173,836 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,072,360. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.35. The company has a market cap of $17.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.25. Hormel Foods Co. has a one year low of $28.51 and a one year high of $36.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

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 company had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a $0.282 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 79.58%.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $312,718.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at $976,094.99. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total value of $327,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 39,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,276,935. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 stock was sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total transaction of $312,718.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $976,094.99. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338. 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.