Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 29,683 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 21.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 166,930 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 29,683 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.'s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $5,235,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 9,905 shares of the company's stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 934 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 626,360 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,649,000 after purchasing an additional 20,514 shares during the period. Aviva PLC increased its stake in Hormel Foods by 58.9% in the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 313,619 shares of the company's stock worth $9,838,000 after purchasing an additional 116,304 shares in the last quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 862,308 shares of the company's stock worth $27,051,000 after buying an additional 26,121 shares during the period. Finally, DnB Asset Management AS lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 71,010 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,228,000 after buying an additional 9,120 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on HRL shares. 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. Bank of America raised Hormel Foods from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the company from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays raised Hormel Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.33.

Hormel Foods Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of HRL traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $30.57. 2,859,028 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,582,094. The stock has a market cap of $16.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $29.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Hormel Foods Co. has a twelve month low of $27.59 and a twelve month high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be given a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 84.67%.

Insider Activity

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

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.