Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) Upgraded at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on HRL. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Hormel Foods in a report on Monday, October 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $28.00 price target on the stock. Stephens assumed coverage on Hormel Foods in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Hormel Foods from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hormel Foods presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.17.

Hormel Foods Trading Up 0.1 %

HRL opened at $30.89 on Wednesday. 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 has a 52 week low of $28.51 and a 52 week high of $36.86. The business’s 50 day moving average is $31.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.46. The firm has a market cap of $16.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.26.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). The business 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%. The business’s revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Hormel Foods will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Hormel Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, January 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 13th. This is a positive change from Hormel Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Hormel Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hormel Foods

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 802,816 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Hormel Foods by 86.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,602,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,867,000 after purchasing an additional 742,859 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Hormel Foods by 2.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,068,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,659,000 after purchasing an additional 617,308 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Hormel Foods by 24.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,976,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,738,000 after purchasing an additional 575,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Hormel Foods by 59.1% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,244,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,470,000 after purchasing an additional 462,283 shares during the last quarter. 40.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.