Savant Capital LLC Sells 16,260 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Savant Capital LLC lowered its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 29.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 39,239 shares of the company's stock after selling 16,260 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC's holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $1,231,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Hormel Foods by 43.1% in the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 10,215 shares of the company's stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 3,075 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 1,825,660 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,271,000 after buying an additional 264,813 shares during the period. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 16,732 shares of the company's stock valued at $525,000 after buying an additional 3,343 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 39,291 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,233,000 after buying an additional 849 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 929,871 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,170,000 after buying an additional 111,454 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In related news, VP Steven J. Lykken bought 4,904 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now owns 7,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $230,537. The trade was a 223.32 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised Hormel Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They set an "underperform" rating and a $28.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Tuesday. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.17.

Hormel Foods Stock Down 0.3 %

HRL stock traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $28.38. The stock had a trading volume of 1,158,975 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,762,256. The firm has a market cap of $15.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.26. The business has a 50-day moving average of $30.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.24. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52-week low of $28.03 and a 52-week high of $36.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 6.75%. The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. Hormel Foods's revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. This is a boost from Hormel Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio is currently 79.45%.

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.