Sigma Planning Corp Has $539,000 Position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL)

Sigma Planning Corp grew its position in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL) by 8.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 17,173 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,369 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $539,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in HRL. State Street Corp raised its stake in Hormel Foods by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,068,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,659,000 after buying an additional 617,308 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,362,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,646,000 after acquiring an additional 120,212 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 5.2% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 3,267,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,570,000 after purchasing an additional 162,577 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 56.0% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,846,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,548,000 after purchasing an additional 66,261 shares during the period. 40.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Hormel Foods

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Steven J. Lykken acquired 4,904 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $32.47 per share, for a total transaction of $159,232.88. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 7,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $230,537. This represents a 223.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on HRL. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.17.

Hormel Foods Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of HRL stock opened at $28.73 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $30.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.09. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Hormel Foods Co. has a 1 year low of $28.03 and a 1 year high of $36.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.67, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.26.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last released its 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 company had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 10.95%. Hormel Foods’s revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.