Vestcor Inc Sells 17,182 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Vestcor Inc reduced its stake in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL - Free Report) by 71.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,936 shares of the company's stock after selling 17,182 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc's holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $220,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Hormel Foods during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Hormel Foods during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Hormel Foods in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Hormel Foods in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,132 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

HRL stock traded down $0.10 during trading on Friday, hitting $32.94. 2,508,607 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,598,310. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52 week low of $28.51 and a 52 week high of $36.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.26. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 2.32.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The business had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, January 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. This is a positive change from Hormel Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Hormel Foods's dividend payout ratio is presently 79.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total value of $327,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 39,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,276,935. The trade was a 20.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total value of $312,718.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $976,094.99. This trade represents a 24.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HRL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Stephens started coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They set an "underperform" rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.29.

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.