WCM Investment Management LLC Buys 3,075 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 43.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,215 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,075 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $319,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vest Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 1,825,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,271,000 after buying an additional 264,813 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 25.0% in the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 16,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $525,000 after acquiring an additional 3,343 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in Hormel Foods by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 39,291 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,233,000 after acquiring an additional 849 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 929,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,170,000 after acquiring an additional 111,454 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 96.1% in the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 66,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,074,000 after purchasing an additional 32,410 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Hormel Foods

In related news, VP Steven J. Lykken purchased 4,904 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $32.47 per share, for a total transaction of $159,232.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hormel Foods Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of HRL opened at $28.86 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $31.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.38. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $28.51 and a 12-month high of $36.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.26.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This is a positive change from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 13th. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is 79.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on HRL shares. BNP Paribas began 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. Citigroup cut their price target on Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays upgraded 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 given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.17.

Hormel Foods 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.