Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 1,771 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 18.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,077 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,771 shares during the period. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 86.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,602,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,867,000 after purchasing an additional 742,859 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Hormel Foods by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,976,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,738,000 after acquiring an additional 575,378 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 59.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,244,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,470,000 after acquiring an additional 462,283 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 15.4% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,089,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,210,000 after purchasing an additional 412,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Hormel Foods by 328.3% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 514,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,297,000 after purchasing an additional 394,068 shares during the period. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Steven J. Lykken sold 9,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.91, for a total transaction of $312,718.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 30,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $976,094.99. The trade was a 24.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total value of $1,648,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,313,850.95. This trade represents a 41.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:HRL opened at $29.40 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.85. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12 month low of $28.51 and a 12 month high of $36.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.70, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 6.52%. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a dividend of $0.282 per share. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is presently 79.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on HRL shares. Citigroup upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Stephens began coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.57.

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.