Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 704,701 shares of the company’s stock after selling 29,840 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.13% of Hormel Foods worth $22,628,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,775,780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,020,000 after purchasing an additional 81,970 shares during the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP acquired a new stake in Hormel Foods in the fourth quarter valued at $470,000. MCF Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 158.6% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 35,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,124,000 after purchasing an additional 21,468 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 154,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,954,000 after purchasing an additional 19,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grandfield & Dodd LLC grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 20.2% in the fourth quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 762,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,493,000 after purchasing an additional 128,349 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HRL has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Hormel Foods from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Hormel Foods from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Hormel Foods from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Citigroup started coverage on Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Hormel Foods from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.00.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

NYSE HRL opened at $35.32 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $33.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.41. Hormel Foods Co. has a twelve month low of $28.51 and a twelve month high of $41.73. The company has a market capitalization of $19.34 billion, a PE ratio of 24.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.07. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 11.51% and a net margin of 6.55%. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a $0.2825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.40%.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In other news, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 15,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.18, for a total value of $526,372.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 68,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,325,231.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 15,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.18, for a total value of $526,372.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 68,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,325,231.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.95, for a total value of $349,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,708 shares in the company, valued at $1,352,844.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 40,800 shares of company stock worth $1,414,872 in the last three months. 0.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.