Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P. Purchases Shares of 56,743 Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 56,743 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,780,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HRL. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,981 shares of the company's stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. bought a new position in Hormel Foods in the third quarter valued at $1,060,000. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Hormel Foods during the third quarter valued at about $222,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 3.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 50,526 shares of the company's stock worth $1,578,000 after purchasing an additional 1,651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 349.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,068 shares of the company's stock worth $190,000 after purchasing an additional 4,717 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In other Hormel Foods news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.40, for a total value of $136,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 95,488 shares in the company, valued at $2,902,835.20. This trade represents a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America upgraded Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Hormel Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $32.33.

Hormel Foods Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE:HRL opened at $29.68 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.31. 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 has a fifty day moving average of $29.80 and a 200 day moving average of $30.47. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52 week low of $27.59 and a 52 week high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 84.67%.

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.

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