Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) posted its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02, RTT News reports. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.12% and a net margin of 6.37%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.40 earnings per share. Hormel Foods updated its FY 2024 guidance to 1.550-1.650 EPS and its FY24 guidance to $1.55-1.65 EPS.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE HRL opened at $30.98 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $34.92 and a 200 day moving average of $32.85. The company has a market capitalization of $16.97 billion, a PE ratio of 22.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.28. Hormel Foods has a 1 year low of $28.51 and a 1 year high of $41.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be paid a $0.2825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is currently 80.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HRL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Hormel Foods from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Barclays upped their target price on Hormel Foods from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Hormel Foods from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.67.

Insider Activity at Hormel Foods

In related news, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 15,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.18, for a total transaction of $526,372.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 68,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,325,231.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Hormel Foods news, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 15,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.18, for a total value of $526,372.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 68,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,325,231.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.95, for a total value of $349,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,352,844.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 40,800 shares of company stock worth $1,414,872. 0.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.