Analysts Set Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) Price Target at $32.86

Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $32.86.

Several analysts recently commented on HRL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. BNP Paribas raised Hormel Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Hormel Foods from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Hormel Foods from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HRL. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 626,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,649,000 after purchasing an additional 20,514 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC lifted its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 58.9% in the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 313,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,838,000 after buying an additional 116,304 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Hormel Foods by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,374,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,107,270 shares in the last quarter. DnB Asset Management AS lifted its position in Hormel Foods by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 71,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,228,000 after purchasing an additional 9,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Hormel Foods during the 4th quarter valued at about $548,000. Institutional investors own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HRL opened at $30.69 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.08. Hormel Foods has a fifty-two week low of $27.59 and a fifty-two week high of $33.80. The company has a market capitalization of $16.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 2.47.

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

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

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

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.