Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 11,801 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Pacer Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 33.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,773 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,801 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $746,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HRL. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 42,385 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,330,000 after buying an additional 493 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,419 shares of the company's stock valued at $140,000 after acquiring an additional 526 shares during the period. Toth Financial Advisory Corp boosted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 47,297 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,484,000 after purchasing an additional 4,418 shares in the last quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,445 shares of the company's stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 464,890 shares of the company's stock worth $14,584,000 after purchasing an additional 3,107 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:HRL traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $29.23. 3,772,257 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,859,038. The company has a market capitalization of $16.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company's 50 day moving average is $31.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.39. Hormel Foods Co. has a twelve month low of $28.51 and a twelve month high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The company's revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. On average, sell-side 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, January 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. This is an increase from Hormel Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 13th. Hormel Foods's payout ratio is 79.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price target on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Hormel Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.17.

Insider Activity at Hormel Foods

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken purchased 4,904 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $32.47 per share, for a total transaction of $159,232.88. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $230,537. The trade was a 223.32 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.