Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Short Interest Update

Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,790,000 shares, an increase of 6.8% from the December 31st total of 11,040,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,320,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.1 days. Currently, 4.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Steven J. Lykken bought 4,904 shares of Hormel Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the acquisition, the vice president now owns 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $230,537. This represents a 223.32 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hormel Foods

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Hormel Foods during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Hormel Foods during the third quarter valued at about $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Hormel Foods by 516.9% during the third 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 during the period. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Hormel Foods during the third quarter valued at about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:HRL traded down $0.10 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $29.51. The stock had a trading volume of 717,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,728,793. 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 has a 52 week low of $28.51 and a 52 week high of $36.86. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $31.32 and its 200 day moving average is $31.44. The stock has a market cap of $16.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.26.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its 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). Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The company had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Hormel Foods will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. This is an increase from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on HRL shares. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Barclays upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.