Russell Investments Group Ltd. Raises Holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 21.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 166,930 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 29,683 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $5,235,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 9,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 934 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Hormel Foods by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 626,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,649,000 after purchasing an additional 20,514 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC increased its stake in Hormel Foods by 58.9% in the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 313,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,838,000 after purchasing an additional 116,304 shares during the last quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 862,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,051,000 after purchasing an additional 26,121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DnB Asset Management AS raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 71,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,228,000 after purchasing an additional 9,120 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Hormel Foods

In other news, Director Elsa A. Murano sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.40, for a total transaction of $136,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 95,488 shares in the company, valued at $2,902,835.20. This represents a 4.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on HRL. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.80.

Hormel Foods Stock Performance

Shares of Hormel Foods stock opened at $30.55 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.92, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.31. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 1.19. Hormel Foods Co. has a 12 month low of $27.59 and a 12 month high of $36.86.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is 84.67%.

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.