Brokerages Set Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Price Target at $31.29

Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) have been given an average rating of “Reduce” by the seven brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $31.29.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on HRL shares. BNP Paribas started coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Stephens assumed coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup lowered 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 note on Tuesday, November 19th.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total transaction of $312,718.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $976,094.99. This trade represents a 24.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of HRL. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 2.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,068,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,659,000 after purchasing an additional 617,308 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Hormel Foods by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,362,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,646,000 after buying an additional 120,212 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in Hormel Foods by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 3,267,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,570,000 after buying an additional 162,577 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 15.4% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,089,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,210,000 after buying an additional 412,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 24.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,976,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,738,000 after acquiring an additional 575,378 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of HRL opened at $31.68 on Monday. 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 has a 52-week low of $28.51 and a 52-week high of $36.86. The company has a market cap of $17.39 billion, a PE ratio of 21.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.26. The business has a fifty day moving average of $31.35 and a 200 day moving average of $31.42.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released 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 return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 6.75%. The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. Hormel Foods’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hormel Foods will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. 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 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.