Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. Raises Stock Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,784 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 912 shares during the quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $310,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Hormel Foods by 15.4% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,089,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,210,000 after acquiring an additional 412,313 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 24.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,976,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,738,000 after purchasing an additional 575,378 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,772,481 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,043,000 after buying an additional 6,315 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Hormel Foods by 86.4% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,602,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,867,000 after buying an additional 742,859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 26.1% during the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 1,560,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,479,000 after purchasing an additional 322,645 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Kevin L. Myers sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.70, for a total transaction of $327,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,276,935. This trade represents a 20.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Deanna T. Brady sold 51,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total value of $1,648,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,313,850.95. The trade was a 41.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 71,400 shares of company stock worth $2,288,338. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

HRL opened at $29.21 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $16.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.26. Hormel Foods Co. has a 52-week low of $28.51 and a 52-week high of $36.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $31.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.94.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.52% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.40 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a $0.282 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $1.13 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.86%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.58%.

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.