Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) Receives “Equal Weight” Rating from Stephens

Stephens reaffirmed their equal weight rating on shares of Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $31.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on HRL. BNP Paribas began coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.17.

Hormel Foods Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:HRL opened at $28.27 on Tuesday. Hormel Foods has a 1 year low of $28.03 and a 1 year high of $36.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $30.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The company has a market cap of $15.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.26.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.14 billion. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 6.75%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Hormel Foods will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 13th were paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 13th. This is a positive change from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is currently 79.45%.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In other news, VP Steven J. Lykken bought 4,904 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $32.47 per share, with a total value of $159,232.88. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now owns 7,100 shares in the company, valued at $230,537. The trade was a 223.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hormel Foods

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Greenleaf Trust lifted its stake in Hormel Foods by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 8,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Hormel Foods by 3.7% during the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $422,000 after buying an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Hormel Foods by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 6,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 9,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.