HighTower Advisors LLC Buys 4,299 Shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 81,659 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,299 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $2,562,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 11.2% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 66,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,111,000 after buying an additional 6,710 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Hormel Foods in the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Hormel Foods by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,846,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,548,000 after acquiring an additional 66,261 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 20.8% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 18,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $596,000 after acquiring an additional 3,236 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 13.1% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 452,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,345,000 after purchasing an additional 52,457 shares during the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hormel Foods Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE HRL opened at $30.04 on Friday. Hormel Foods Co. has a twelve month low of $27.59 and a twelve month high of $36.86. The stock has a market cap of $16.52 billion, a PE ratio of 20.57, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.21. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 2.32.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on HRL. Stephens reissued 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 Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.80.

About Hormel Foods

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.