State of Alaska Department of Revenue Grows Stock Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 96.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 66,136 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,410 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $2,074,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Holocene Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 56.0% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 2,237,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,934,000 after purchasing an additional 802,816 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,068,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $794,659,000 after buying an additional 617,308 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Hormel Foods by 328.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 514,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,297,000 after buying an additional 394,068 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 26.1% in the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 1,560,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,479,000 after acquiring an additional 322,645 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 5.2% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 3,267,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,570,000 after acquiring an additional 162,577 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

In related news, VP Steven J. Lykken acquired 4,904 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $32.47 per share, for a total transaction of $159,232.88. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $230,537. The trade was a 223.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HRL opened at $28.99 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $15.91 billion, a PE ratio of 19.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.26. Hormel Foods Co. has a fifty-two week low of $28.51 and a fifty-two week high of $36.86. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The business had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.66 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 13th will be given a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 13th. This is a boost from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.00%. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is 79.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.