Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $419,000 Stock Position in Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its position in shares of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) by 18.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,551 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,014 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $419,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HRL. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 9,725.4% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,335,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,270,000 after purchasing an additional 2,312,024 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 496.3% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,185,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,562,000 after purchasing an additional 1,819,100 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 466.5% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,053,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,690,746 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,107,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc increased its position in shares of Hormel Foods by 186.0% during the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 1,041,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,667,000 after purchasing an additional 677,194 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.99% of the company’s stock.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 0.6%

HRL opened at $28.47 on Friday. Hormel Foods Corporation has a 1-year low of $27.59 and a 1-year high of $33.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $29.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.72. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.66 billion, a PE ratio of 20.93, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.31.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.35. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 6.27% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. Hormel Foods’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Hormel Foods Corporation will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 14th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 14th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Hormel Foods’s payout ratio is currently 85.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HRL. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded 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 report on Tuesday, May 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Hormel Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.