Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) Trading 2.7% Higher – What’s Next?

Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) rose 2.7% on Monday . The company traded as high as $31.06 and last traded at $31.19. Approximately 289,321 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 2,528,685 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.36.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on HRL. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.80.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 1.7 %

The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $29.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.67. The company has a market cap of $16.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.21.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is currently 84.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hormel Foods

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,241,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,168,257,000 after buying an additional 268,328 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,068,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,659,000 after buying an additional 617,308 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,843,207 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,041,000 after purchasing an additional 533,657 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,461,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,459,000 after purchasing an additional 98,442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in Hormel Foods by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 6,072,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $190,500,000 after acquiring an additional 413,669 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

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.