Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Stock Holdings Trimmed by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC decreased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 83.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,159 shares of the company's stock after selling 68,118 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Hormel Foods during the third quarter worth about $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 516.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Hormel Foods in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 47.5% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,981 shares of the company's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Steven J. Lykken purchased 4,904 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president now 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 purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hormel Foods Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of HRL traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $29.19. The company had a trading volume of 1,796,266 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,820,984. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1-year low of $28.51 and a 1-year high of $36.86. 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 business's 50-day simple moving average is $31.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.41. The stock has a market cap of $16.02 billion, a PE ratio of 19.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.26.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.14 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. Hormel Foods's revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. This is a boost from Hormel Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. Hormel Foods's payout ratio is 79.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HRL has been the subject of several research reports. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They set an "underperform" rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Hormel Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.17.

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.