Bessemer Group Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL)

Bessemer Group Inc. cut its holdings in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) by 58.7% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,454 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,064 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $45,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Exeter Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.3% in the first quarter. Exeter Financial LLC now owns 16,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $520,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 2.7% in the first quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 17,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 44,473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,395,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 17.1% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hormel Foods Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE:HRL opened at $30.69 on Friday. Hormel Foods Corporation has a twelve month low of $27.59 and a twelve month high of $33.80. The company has a market cap of $16.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.33. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.07. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.35. Hormel Foods had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 6.27%. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 14th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 14th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HRL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. BNP Paribas raised shares of Hormel Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Hormel Foods from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Hormel Foods from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.86.

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.